How long does it take for your property to double in value?
How long does it really take for property prices to double? Here’s what you need to know before betting on 100% growth.
It’s a well-established myth in property circles that Australian housing values double every seven to ten years. This belief has stood the test of time – despite not necessarily being accurate.
How long does it take house prices to double?
“You will often hear it said that property values double every seven to ten years, but that’s not actually correct,” Metropole founder, property investment advisor, and author Michael Yardney told Your Mortgage.
“There are markets within markets, and some outperform others.
“Then, there are periods in all various housing markets when property values remain flat for many years, even up to a decade.”
Previous research by property analyst John Linderman found that, while property prices sometimes doubled in just a handful of years, other times it took decades.
“Australian house prices doubled in just six years from 1968 to 1973, 1974 to 1979, and 1998 to 2003, but they also have taken much longer to double at other times,” Mr Yardney said.
“Digging deeper, the main factors causing strong house price growth were economic booms, strong population growth, or high inflation.”
“In contrast, periods of low house price growth occurred during economic downturns, or recessions, or when housing finance was difficult to obtain.”
Have property prices doubled over the last decade?
According to CoreLogic’s Home Value Index (HVI) for March 2025, no single capital city or regional state has seen dwelling values double in the past ten years.
However, Regional NSW came close, recording a 97.7% increase in property values over the decade. Meanwhile, Adelaide experienced a 93.3% rise over the same period.
And some pockets have defied trends entirely, with prices more than doubling in just three years ending December 2024:
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Of course, past performance isn’t an indicator of future performance, and as the data shows, many of the biggest value gains weren’t in the wealthiest city centres.
Instead, these high-growth areas tend to be:
- On the outskirts of major cities or regional centres
- Suburbs where property prices were lower to begin with
- Locations with reasonable access to employment, education, and entertainment
Calculate how long it would take your property’s value to double
Wondering if the value of your property or a property you’re considering purchasing could double in seven to 10 years? Maybe it could double even faster – or maybe it might leave you waiting longer again.
There’s no crystal ball when it comes to property investing. (If there was, we’d all be buying rental homes.)
However, you can make an educated guess by using the Rule of 72.
The Rule of 72: Estimating property price doubling time
The Rule of 72 is a simple mathematical formula that considers annual price growth rate and uses it to work out how long it would take for the value of a property to double. Here it is:
72 / annual growth rate = number of years an investment would take to double in value
Example: Australia-wide property growth rate
According to CoreLogic data, Australia’s median property value rose by 3.8% over the year to 28 February 2025.
- 72 ÷ 4.3% = 18.9 years
At the current growth rate, Australia’s median property value would take nearly 19 years to double.
Reverse engineering the Rule of 72
The formula works backwards too.
For example, if a property’s value doubled in just five years, you can determine its annual growth rate:
- 72 ÷ 5 years = 14.4% annual growth rate
The beauty of this formula is that it accounts for compounding growth.
What is compounding property price growth?
Compounding is the phenomenon of realising gains on gains.
Let’s say you own a $500,000 home, and its value increases by 5% per year:
- Year 1: $500,000 → $525,000 (+ $25,000 gain)
- Year 2: $525,000 → $551,250 (+ $26,250 gain)
- Year 3: $551,250 → $578,812 (+ $27,562 gain)
Each year, the growth applies to the previous year’s total, not just the original price, thereby compounding.
Will house prices in your city double?
No doubt, at this point you’ll be searching for your city or suburb’s current annual property price growth rate. And let me tell you, you might find it surprising.
Some areas of Australia have seen prices soar in recent times, largely due to an ongoing housing crisis. Other areas are coming off a heated cycle, while some cities didn’t see prices take off in quite the same way in recent times.
Here’s how fast it would take house prices to double if they were to continue rising at their current annual pace, as of March 2025:
| Sydney | $1,186,459 | 1.1% | 65.5 years |
| Melbourne | $772,561 | -3.2% | – |
| Brisbane | $894,425 | 9.7% | 7.4 years |
| Adelaide | $822,201 | 11.9% | 6 years |
| Perth | $807,933 | 14.3% | 5 years |
| Hobart | $661,544 | -0.3% | – |
| Canberra | $846,955 | -0.9% | – |
| Darwin | $506,591 | 1.5% | 48 years |
| Australia-wide | $815,912 | 3.8% | 18.9 years |
But remember, past performance doesn’t guarantee future performance.
“If the rate of house price growth for the next five years is the same as it was during the last five years, house prices will likely double in the ten years from 2020 to 2029,” Mr Yardney said.
“But … there are cycles within cycles and each of our capital cities will perform differently over the next decade, with prices growing more strongly in some locations than others.
“And within each city, some suburbs will experience stronger price growth than other locations and some properties will outperform others.”
Australian property forecast: What’s next for house prices?
Most experts are in agreement: Australian house price growth will likely cool in the coming years. Though, with the first Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate cut having been handed down, the near term could bring a slight reacceleration.
REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh has noted an uptick in affordability, buyer confidence, and auction clearance rates in the wake of the cut.
“As a result, renewed demand has reaccelerated home price growth, erasing recent declines,” she told Your Mortgage.
And looking beyond the interest rate cycle, Ms Creagh said structural issues persist.
“While population growth remains elevated, it has begun to moderate, and Australia continues to grapple with a chronic shortage of new housing supply,” she continued.
“Looking ahead, interest rates are expected to fall further and prices are expected to maintain an upward trend.
“However, given affordability challenges, the rate of price growth is likely to be more measured compared to previous easing cycles, resulting in a more moderate pace of gains relative to the strong growth seen in recent years.”
Another factor likely to help ease price growth will be the RBA. While the central bank has begun its rate cutting cycle, economists are only anticipating a handful of cuts this year. Indeed, some big bank economists only expect one more cut, while others tip three more. Even three more cuts would leave the cash rate notably higher than the record low realised in 2020 and 2021.
“Additional rate cuts will support modest gains, but the impact will be more measured than in past cycles,” Ms Creagh said.
“Realistically, home values doubling in the near future is unlikely, especially given affordability constraints and the more modest growth expected this year.”
Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash.
Mortgage Registration Fee: What it is and how it affects your home loan
Published on 4 Mar 2025
A mortgage registration fee is a mandatory government charge when taking out a home loan. Here’s why it’s required, how much it costs, and how it affects refinancing.ON THIS PAGEWhat is a mortgage registration fee?How much is a mortgage registration fee?Do you need to pay a mortgage registration fee when refinancing?Can you avoid paying a mortgage registration fee?What happens if a mortgage is not registered?Does mortgage registration protect borrowers?
You’re at the final stage of buying your dream home. The paperwork is signed, the home loan is approved, and settlement is around the corner.
But then, you get hit with an unexpected cost – a mortgage registration fee. What is this fee and why do you have to pay it? Let’s break it down.
What is a mortgage registration fee?
A mortgage registration fee is a government charge, like stamp duty. However, unlike stamp duty, it’s not a tax – it covers the cost of registering your mortgage with the state or territory land titles office.
As the name suggests, a mortgage registration fee is charged to register a mortgage, which officially documents your lender’s interest in the property being purchased.
When you take out a home loan, your property acts as security for the lender. If you default on your repayments, the lender has the right to repossess and sell the property to recover your debt.
Lenders secure their claim to a property by registering the mortgage, formally establishing their legal interest in it.
When do I need to pay the mortgage registration fee?
The mortgage registration fee is typically paid at the time of settlement. Your lender will likely pay the fee itself and ask you to reimburse it.
If you were to refinance your home loan, you would also need to pay a mortgage registration fee for the new home loan, as well as a mortgage discharge fee to close your old mortgage.
How much is a mortgage registration fee?
Mortgage registration fees differ between states and territories. As of financial year 2024-25, they’re generally in the range of $160 and $230.
Here’s what you might be up for if you’re taking out a mortgage on an Australian property:
| State/Territory | Mortgage Registration Fee in 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| NSW | $171.70 |
| Victoria | $122.10 for electronic transactions $131.90 for paper transactions |
| Queensland | $231.98 |
| South Australia | $192 |
| Western Australia | $210.30 |
| Tasmania | $159.88 |
| ACT | $172 |
| Northern Territory | $172 |
Do you need to pay a mortgage registration fee when refinancing?
Yes, when refinancing, your old lender’s mortgage must be removed from your property’s title, and your new lender’s mortgage must be added. This means you’ll likely pay two fees:
- A mortgage discharge fee (typically $200-$400)
to remove the old lender’s mortgage - A new mortgage registration fee ($160-$230)
to register your new loan with the state or territory land titles office
Can you avoid paying a mortgage registration fee?
Unlike some fees and charges that you might be able to barter down, the mortgage registration fee is generally unavoidable.
Registering a mortgage ensures the lender can repossess the property if the buyer can’t meet their home loan repayments. Thus, you’d be hard pressed to find a lender willing to let the mortgage registration fee slide.
What happens if a mortgage is not registered?
To explain why mortgage registration is necessary, we need to break down what a mortgage actually is.
Contrary to popular belief, a mortgage isn’t technically a loan. Rather, it’s the agreement that, if a property owner fails to live up to their side of a bargain the lender can take ownership of the property and sell it to recoup its losses. The bargain being agreed to is generally that the borrower will repay their home loan in regular installments.
By registering the mortgage on your property, your bank or lender ensures it can take ownership of the property if you default on your home loan.
If your mortgage isn’t registered, it might not have the same legal rights. Or, it may have to jump through many legal hoops to prove it has an interest in the property.
For example, imagine a property owner takes out a second loan using their home as security but fails to register the new mortgage. If they default and the property is repossessed, the first lender (whose mortgage was registered) will have legal right to the property, while the second lender may be left with nothing.
Does mortgage registration protect borrowers?
From a borrower’s perspective, it might not seem like a major issue that a lender would struggle to repossess their home if push comes to shove. However, few, if any, lenders would approve a mortgage without securing its legal right to claim the property if necessary.
Additionally, the mortgage registration process can bring issues to the surface. For instance, a paperwork mistake might mean a previous owners’ mortgage is still registered to your property, leaving another party with a legal interest in the home. This could prove catastrophic if you were to purchase the property without realising. Chances are, such a mistake would need to be rectified before settlement.
Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik
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