Ellen Lutton

Two years ago, there was only one city in Australia that had a median house price over $1 million. There’s been a lot of change in the market since then.

If you’re feeling confused about how prices could possibly be rising again already, you’re not the only one.

It was a finale that even the scriptwriters could not have imagined – there were tears, accusations and even a triple-zero call to the ambulance – and the results on the day for the contestants were shocking.

There was only one unfamiliar face who bid at The Block auctions this year, and after winning House 3, she took off with her husband in a helicopter to the races.

This year was going to be the year buyers would have the upper hand and – dare we say it – maybe nab a ’bargain’. But this is Australian real estate. It is nothing if not endlessly surprising.

Three years ago Brisbane did not have a $2 million suburb. Now a budget of $5 million is the minimum spend for an entry-level blue chip property and listings around $20 million are being taken off the market by locals.

For some of Brisbane’s highest profile real estate agents, it’s been the professional blow none of them saw coming.

This sad wreck of a terrace house in Sydney’s Redfern, abandoned by its owner, then occupied by a squatter and, as a final insult, set on fire, was once labelled ‘Australia’s worst house’.

This is the price buyers will pay to live in Australia’s most beautiful towns as ranked by social media.

The latest quarterly Domain House Price Report showed the median house price for the region of North Sydney-Mosman, which also includes suburbs such as Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Cremorne Point, Kirribilli and Cammeray, rose by 8.9 per cent over the three months to September.