One of Australia’s smaller capital cities has been named as the best performer for house price growth in the past 20 years.

The latest Australian Property Institute (API) valuation report says Adelaide houses had an average growth of 175% between 2005 and 2024. Australian Property Institute Chief Executive John Winter says the great “untold” story of Australian housing over the past two decades has been the resurgence of the nation’s smaller cities over the larger ones.

Hotspotting’s latest Price Predictor Index says the Adelaide market has been rising for longer than any other jurisdiction in Australia, and there is no sign of any slowdown in sales activity. The API report says Hobart was the second best performer with growth of 172%, followed by Sydney, 171%, Brisbane and Melbourne, both 169%, and Perth, 123%. “Seeing growth outside of the behemoth centres of Sydney and Melbourne really is a reminder that as those two cities are getting bigger, people are going to start looking for other opportunities, and it’s going to drive prices up in other areas,” Winter says.