Resale profits in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are the highest amongst the Australian capital cities according to new data.
The Domain Profit & Loss Report shows that this increase was driven by median resale prices in Sydney, which has the highest median price of A$700,500 and Brisbane and Adelaide, with median prices reaching A$480,000 and A$430,000, respectively.
Unit resale prices varied more dramatically across the capital cities.
In Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, more than 97% of units sold for a profit, with Perth unit profits surging by 55.5% and Brisbane and Adelaide climbing 40.4% and 37.4% respectively.
Nationally, median profits sat at A$365,000 and at A$202,000 for units.
According to Domain senior economist, Dr Joel Bowman, the opportunity for profit-making resales remains strong for the rest of 2025, partly due to long tenure by home owners.
“Most sellers are making solid gains, in large part because they’re holding onto their properties longer – on average, nine years for houses and eight for units – and building significant equity over time,” he said.
“With ongoing undersupply and renewed price momentum already emerging, the outlook for profit-making resales remains positive across most regions throughout 2025.”
Despite some capitals being yet to fully recover from the pandemic, cities like Perth and Adelaide have strong returns with standout median profit growth.
In Brisbane, median prices of houses increased by 77% to A$460,437 and units by 69% to A$277,509 since 2020.
Adelaide prices jumped even higher, with median house prices growing 87% to A$470,973 and units by 76% to A$250,441.
Imagine Property Group real estate agent, Adam Empringham, said anyone who bought a house in the last 10 to 15 years in Brisbane has made massive profits.
“It’s evident in the unit and townhouse market,” he said.
“Where that market was once very stagnant, we started to see the COVID effect and the growth from 2020.”
“Someone who bought a property in 2020 in the $600,000-$700,000 range [are] making $300,000 because they’re selling it for $1 million.”
Nationally, only 3.2% of all house sales and 12.2% of all unit sales were sold at a loss.
Despite the growth in most cities, Melbourne and Darwin recorded annual declines in house sale profits by 25.8% and 31% respectively, and Canberra remained flat.
However, even in these cities, less than 4% of homes were sold at a loss nationally, with the median loss being around A$5500.
