The Bank of Mum and Dad is kicking in an average cash gift of $40,000, with saving for a deposit still the biggest hurdle for aspiring young buyers as property prices soar further out of reach.

Fresh data shows just under one-third or 29 per cent of Aussie homeowners with a mortgage received financial help from their parents, with 13 per cent given money towards a deposit.

Compare the Market’s Household Budget Barometer analysed wide-ranging effects of rising living costs on the path to homeownership, finding 63 per cent of first-home buyers struggled to save a deposit despite most making sacrifices like cutting back on travel and leisure.

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The report comes as the Federal Government’s expanded Home Guarantee Scheme launched this month, removing place and income limits and raising property price caps to allow more first-home buyers to enter the market with a five per cent deposit and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

Compare the Market property expert Andrew Winter said the scheme may mean the Bank of Mum and Dad “finally get[s] a break”, after “some hardcore lending in recent years”.

“It’s also great news for aspiring buyers whose families do not have the means to chip in. It’s a more level playing field now for people who can’t count on help from well-off parents,” Mr Winter said.

But the low-deposit scheme could further inflate property prices, potentially leaving young buyers saddled with huge debt through the life of their loan.

“Raising a deposit is just one hurdle. New buyers are facing bigger loans and larger repayments and that could mean that the pain that once came with raising a 20 per cent deposit is instead spread over the life of the loan, as homeowners have to grapple with more interest,” Mr Winter said.

“It is now more important than ever to ensure you’re on a competitive home loan rate, to minimise the interest you pay, and ensure you can make your repayments comfortably.”

Compare the Market’s report found around 53 per cent of buyers were priced out of their desired areas, while 31 per cent said there was a lack of available homes on the market.

One in ten buyers said a lack of transparency around seller’s expectations had become a barrier in their property search.

“Australia’s housing affordability dilemma is a big messy problem,” Mr Winter said.

“But put simply, there are more people than there are properties to put them in. Shortfalls create demand and demand forces prices up.

“Higher property values remain a significant hurdle for many aspiring buyers.”

The report found just 43 per cent of Greater Brisbane suburbs were affordable for average-earning couples.

Sacrifices would-be buyers made to boost their deposit savings included cancelling holiday plans (24pc), taking on a side hustle (21pc), selling off their possessions (18pc), and moving back in with their parents (9pc).

Chaice Paterson, founder of Low Deposit Homes, said enhanced schemes and grants had drastically cut savings required to get onto the property ladder. The required deposit for a brand-new property priced at $1m had been slashed from $122,000 last year, to $54,500 for eligible buyers, taking stamp duty exemption and all purchasing costs into account, Mr Paterson said.

Real Estate Buyers Agents Associate of Australia (REBAA) president Melinda Jennison said affordability remained a major constraint for young buyers, with home prices jumping by up to $50,000 in the past month as panic buying swept the market ahead of the government scheme.

“Properties that were selling for $750,000 last month are now selling for close to $800,000,” Ms Jennison said.

“Many buyers are reportedly panicking with some purchasing sight unseen or overpaying to secure a property.

“What was $800,000 will soon be $900,000, which will make it even more difficult for first timers to secure finance for a home, even with the scheme’s five per cent deposit on offer.”

Aaron Scott, founder of real estate comparison service bRight Agent, said the expanded availability of 95 per cent home loans without LMI carried hidden costs for first-timers.

“The first decade of paying off your mortgage is the toughest,” Mr Scott said.

“This period typically takes the smallest amount of principal off your loan, meaning you’re paying a lot and not really getting ahead.

“A 95 per cent loan, however you cut it, is essentially just prolonging this difficult part of the cycle.”

Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.

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The post Real cost of Bank of Mum and Dad revealed appeared first on realestate.com.au.

After a rollercoaster week, Emma and Ben snatched victory from Mat and Robby with a sneaky gnome and a copycat cellar.

Despite denying they had a gnome all week – even when Han asked them point blank as scores were being read by host Scott Cam – the pair shocked everyone when they played their trump card to secure themselves the win.

Han and Can took out the (much needed) $20,000 for being the most budget savvy though that was largely thanks to hiring Han’s dad to work like a Trojan for minimum wage.

They should have held him in reserve for next week when the winning front yard will secure three massive bonuses: a car to auction with the property, $50,000 off the reserve of their house and a car to take home.

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And, unlike this week, there will be no gnomes left to play for bonus points.

If not for the gnome, the win would have gone to Mat and Robby whose week had been smooth sailing compared to most of their neighbours thanks to careful forward planning and winning themselves a pickleball court and a huge stone fireplace to fill out the space.

While judges Marty Fox, Darren Palmer, Shaynna Blaze and guest judge Dave Franklin swooned over the $50,000 stone fireplace (complete with sizzling steaks sitting on the hot coals) Marty complained that it obscured the view from the house to the pool.

Darren quickly noted that the pool was under video surveillance so that owners could keep track of what their children were up to via their phones instead.

“Technically it’s wonderful but visually it’s so beautiful,” Darren said as he took in Robby and Mat’s bottle tree, vegetable patches and native planting.

It was the cabana that let the boys down which, despite having a sauna, felt lacklustre compared to others.

Emma and Ben’s cabana got the seal of approval for the foursome. And Shaynna couldn’t help but take a bit of credit for the room’s superior styling, pointing out the fact it had been her idea to trade a couch for a bench.

“The whole space is heaven,” she said.

Emma and Ben worked hard for their win, toiling right up to the eleventh hour after a $20,000 concreting disaster set them back. Plus, there was their last-minute underground wine cellar – ahem – “inspired” by Robby and Mat’s efforts.

Judge Marty Fox appreciated the strategic addition of the cellar.

“We are in a real estate competition,” he said approvingly.

“And this is adding value to the buyers. They have seen House 5’s cellar and this is the perfect chess move.”

All four were impressed by Emma and Ben’s garden which had been created to mimic the colours and textures of the bush surrounding it. Little did they know that earlier in the week the garden did a better job at mimicking the local skate park than the natural environs.

There were less positives (and plants) to be found over at Han and Can’s. Marty instantly felt the Japanese themed garden was a misstep.

“It has a lot of rock and a lot of paving for the kids to run around they could trip and hurt themselves,” he said.

“It just has a harsher feel.”

Even after Dave explained that the garden would be softened once the creepers and plants were given time to grow, Marty awarded the girls his lowest score of the day, prompting Han to declare the real estate agent a “butthead”.

She wouldn’t have appreciated the feedback on the pool house either. Which proved Can was right for urging Han to scale back on her plans in favour of something more cost and time effective.

The couple had been bickering behind closed doors all week because of Han’s steadfast refusal to let go of her plan to render the interior walls of the cabana.

In the end the pool house was deemed an impractical waste of resources. Shaynna said the girls would have been better off decking the room out with a couple of yoga mats and some towel hooks.

Conversely, all the angst over their fireplace paid off for Britt and Taz. Darren loved how its stonework created a link to the fireplace inside.

Homesick and frustrated by last minute challenges, the couple have been down in the dumps this week.

It hadn’t helped that Taz was missing his brother’s wedding to supervise the rebuilding of his outdoor chimney.

“You go three months without your kids. You miss birthdays, weddings funerals … all of it, just for this. And you could walk away with nothing,” he sighed.

While they didn’t score a win this week, The West Australians did get plenty of positive feedback for their garden which featured a chicken coop and veggie garden along with a suite of wellness features.

Admiring the succession of giant wooden arbours, Marty said it was a “journey garden” that led people’s gaze from the deck to the pool. He wasn’t sold on the man-made creek though wondering whether it would have been more practical to have more lawn space.

“It could be the only thing that turns a buyer off,” he argued.

“I have never seen anyone jump online and say, I have got to find somewhere with a big dry creek.”

Franklin was on the fence with the creek, explaining that it was great for sustainability and would photograph well.

While Darren and Shaynna both felt the creek was the “stuff of childhood dreams”, where kids could spend hours fossicking in the creek bed.

“It’s the thing I remember from when I was a kid but selling a house, families always say is this enough lawn for my kids to run around on,” Darren shrugged.

The judges were still fixated on the indoor pilates studio being a major misstep for Britt and Taz, arguing that putting a couch in the cabana did not make up for the second living space that was missing inside the main house.

“Why on earth you have to stick to your guns and not put the pilates studio in your shed, or in here?” Marty said with exasperation.

There was universal praise for Sonny and Alicia’s work, which was deemed a textbook backyard. Darren enthused that it was “an elevation of the perfect Aussie backyard”.

It was the cabana that really got all four going. With its kitchenette, day bed and spare toilet.

Dave said it was the best pool cabana he’d ever seen. And those words were like a knife through the heart for Han.

Sonny laughed that it was a good place to send someone when they were in the doghouse with their partner.

Perhaps they could offer it to Han for a night or two?

Final scores

Emma and Ben: 38 ½ 

Robby and Mat: 38

Britt and Taz: 37 ¾  

Sonny and Alicia: 36 ¾ 

Han and Can: 31 ½

MISSED AN EPISODE? HERE’S ALL OUR RECAPS SO FAR

Episode 1: Why no NSW applicants were good enough for The Block

Episode 2: The worst day on The Block

Episode 3/4: ‘Tear them off’: teams forced to rip tiles from walls

Episode 5: Judges feedback leaves one contestant vomiting

Episode 6: Dan and Dani’s heartbreak

Episode 7: The big problem with the Block house designs

Episode 8: Robby and Mat’s drunken blunder

Episode 9: ‘An up-market nursing home’

Episode 10: Can faces the wrath of Han

Episode 11: Han micromanaging from her sick bed

Episode 12: Sonny cops a spray from Alicia

Episode 13: Brutal feedback leaves Block team confused

Episode 14: Han and Can are in trouble with Dan, and other contestants

Episode 15: Han explodes at Dan in shocking tirade

Episode 16: Defiant Han gets epic dressing down from Scott Cam

Episode 17: Two teams are smashed by hyperbolic judges

Episode 18: Two teams start the week devastated by judges’ feedback

Episode 19: Copying scandal erupts as Alicia and Sonny point the finger

Episode 20: Ben and Emma drop good news into tense Block week

Episode 21: Ben and Emma and Sonny and Alicia cop the wrath of the judges

Episode 22: As Sonny and Alicia despair, Mat summons his inner Mean Boy

Episode 23: Han and Can all but quit the spa room challenge

Episode 24: Ben and Emma finally crack after yet another loss

Episode 25: Britt and Taz make a major blunder

Episode 26: The girls fire their builder

Episode 27: Ben and Emma hatch a sneaky plan

Episode 28: Britt’s decision to freeze out her former bestie has Alicia on the warpath

Episode 29: ‘Basic’, ‘no heart’, ‘not elegant’ – judges pan some teams’ kitchens

Episode 30: Block stars ugly showdown

Episode 31: Greed and cheating accusations at body corp meeting

Episode 32: Team unleashes on ‘dog act’

Episode 33: Three teams fail to finish in bruising week

Episode 34: Han fires up at sacked builder over ‘w***er’ texts

Episode 35: Sonny refuses to back down on his decision to block extended hours

Episode 36: Sonny dobs in Britt and Taz and Han loses her cool

Episode 37: Going all out for a win one team comes unstuck

Episode 38: Mild-mannered Ben calls for an arson attack on Britt and Taz

Episode 39: Alicia denies making snide comments then refers to Britt’s ‘b***h face’

Episode 40: A controversial Block win stirs new trouble

Episode 41: A pig-headed decision could cost one team big at auction

Episode 42: Han worries she’s been portrayed as a spoilt brat

Episode 43: In a repeat of last week, Han has big plans and no cash

Episode 44: Taz and Britt have reached breaking point

The post The Block 2025 Episode 45 recap: Han and Can’s rock-filled backyard gets big thumbs down from one judge appeared first on realestate.com.au.

The Bank of Mum and Dad is kicking in an average cash gift of $40,000, with saving for a deposit still the biggest hurdle for aspiring young buyers as property prices soar further out of reach.

Fresh data shows just under one-third or 29 per cent of Aussie homeowners with a mortgage received financial help from their parents, with 13 per cent given money towards a deposit.

Compare the Market’s Household Budget Barometer analysed wide-ranging effects of rising living costs on the path to homeownership, finding 63 per cent of first-home buyers struggled to save a deposit despite most making sacrifices like cutting back on travel and leisure.

The report comes as the Federal Government’s expanded Home Guarantee Scheme launched this month, removing place and income limits and raising property price caps to allow more first-home buyers to enter the market with a five per cent deposit and no Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI).

Compare the Market property expert Andrew Winter said the scheme may mean the Bank of Mum and Dad “finally get[s] a break”, after “some hardcore lending in recent years”.

“It’s also great news for aspiring buyers whose families do not have the means to chip in. It’s a more level playing field now for people who can’t count on help from well-off parents,” Mr Winter said.

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But the low-deposit scheme could further inflate property prices, potentially leaving young buyers saddled with huge debt through the life of their loan.

“Raising a deposit is just one hurdle. New buyers are facing bigger loans and larger repayments and that could mean that the pain that once came with raising a 20 per cent deposit is instead spread over the life of the loan, as homeowners have to grapple with more interest,” Mr Winter said.

“It is now more important than ever to ensure you’re on a competitive home loan rate, to minimise the interest you pay, and ensure you can make your repayments comfortably.”

Compare the Market’s report found around 53 per cent of buyers were priced out of their desired areas, while 31 per cent said there was a lack of available homes on the market.

One in ten buyers said a lack of transparency around seller’s expectations had become a barrier in their property search.

“Australia’s housing affordability dilemma is a big messy problem,” Mr Winter said.

“But put simply, there are more people than there are properties to put them in. Shortfalls create demand and demand forces prices up.

“Higher property values remain a significant hurdle for many aspiring buyers.”

The report found just 43 per cent of Greater Brisbane suburbs were affordable for average-earning couples.

Sacrifices would-be buyers made to boost their deposit savings included cancelling holiday plans (24pc), taking on a side hustle (21pc), selling off their possessions (18pc), and moving back in with their parents (9pc).

Chaice Paterson, founder of Low Deposit Homes, said enhanced schemes and grants had drastically cut savings required to get onto the property ladder. The required deposit for a brand-new property priced at $1m had been slashed from $122,000 last year, to $54,500 for eligible buyers, taking stamp duty exemption and all purchasing costs into account, Mr Paterson said.

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But options for first-home buyers in Brisbane and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts to qualify for the First Home Guarantee remained limited, despite property price caps raised to $1m in those areas.

“In Greater Brisbane, you are basically looking at either Logan or Ipswich, and even then it is becoming very tough to find an established property under $1m,” Mr Paterson said.

“It is why so many people are banked up for land releases, they know this is their best shot.”

Mr Paterson camped overnight with clients before the release of new housing lots in a southeast Queensland estate, where 120 hopeful buyers applied for just 20 vacant lots priced around $300,000 each.

Real Estate Buyers Agents Associate of Australia (REBAA) president Melinda Jennison said affordability remained a major constraint for young buyers, with home prices jumping by up to $50,000 in the past month as panic buying swept the market ahead of the government scheme.

“Properties that were selling for $750,000 last month are now selling for close to $800,000,” Ms Jennison said.

“Many buyers are reportedly panicking with some purchasing sight unseen or overpaying to secure a property.

“What was $800,000 will soon be $900,000, which will make it even more difficult for first timers to secure finance for a home, even with the scheme’s five per cent deposit on offer.”

Aaron Scott, founder of real estate comparison service bRight Agent, said the expanded availability of 95 per cent home loans without LMI carried hidden costs for first-timers.

“The first decade of paying off your mortgage is the toughest,” Mr Scott said.

“This period typically takes the smallest amount of principal off your loan, meaning you’re paying a lot and not really getting ahead.

“A 95 per cent loan, however you cut it, is essentially just prolonging this difficult part of the cycle.”

The post Real cost of Bank of Mum and Dad revealed appeared first on realestate.com.au.

From AFL legends to media heavyweights, Melbourne’s elite are clustering in one bayside suburb where lifestyle, schools and social cachet collide.

Brighton has taken the crown as Melbourne’s ultimate celebrity postcode, its streets lined with multimillion-dollar homes owned by Chris and Bec Judd, Shane Crawford, Sam Newman, Fifi Box, Jennifer Keyte and Georgie Parker, alongside a wave of media and sporting names including Nathan Buckley, Daisy Pearce and television host Jacqui Felgate.

For decades, Toorak has been the shorthand for wealth, but Melbourne’s social centre of gravity has shifted closer to the coast.

Brighton has become the postcode that blends prestige with beach culture, where the school run meets the shoreline and fame feels just another part of the neighbourhood.

New PropTrack research shows the suburb’s median house price is holding firm at about $3.15m, down just 1 per cent in the past year as more than 280 homes changing hands.

By comparison, Toorak’s median has slipped 18.3 per cent to $4.61m, while Portsea, long favoured by Hamish and Zoë Foster Blake, Eddie McGuire, the late Shane Warne and comedian Mick Molloy, has surged almost 10 per cent to $3.76m.

Canterbury has also climbed nearly 10 per cent, lifting to about $3.61m, as profile buyers including Anthony LaPaglia and business leader Anthony Pratt shift east for its tree-lined streets, elite schools and quiet prestige.

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Whitefox founder and Block judge Marty Fox said Brighton’s resilience was no accident.

“Brighton isn’t a trend, it’s a way of life,” Mr Fox said.

“Volumes hold because the lifestyle is irreplaceable: the beach, the schools, the village culture. That resilience is what keeps Brighton’s celebrity factor intact.”

Mr Fox said despite its 18 per cent dip, Toorak hasn’t lost its crown.

“Toorak is the most elastic part of the market. Confidence wavers, listings pause and the data looks dramatic,” he said.

“But Brighton proves lifestyle trumps volatility, it’s where Melbourne’s culture, sport and business communities meet the sea.”

Mr Fox said the suburb’s celebrity cachet had evolved beyond postcode prestige.

“Brighton and Portsea are the twin pillars of Melbourne’s top end,” Mr Fox said.

“Brighton is where the city meets the water, it’s the weekday anchor. Portsea is where the city goes to exhale, it’s the escape and both carry generational pull, they both represent what the modern buyer values: space, privacy and connection.”

Mr Fox said Melbourne’s top-end market was evolving rather than eroding.

“Sydney might be the benchmark for wealth, but Melbourne’s strength is its cultural depth,” he said.

“Toorak and Brighton hold the cachet, Canterbury and Kew are the climbers, and Portsea remains the lifestyle play.

“Prestige markets don’t just follow the economy, they shape culture. And right now, culture is saying lifestyle is the new luxury.”

Prominent Melbourne buyers’ advocate Cate Bakos said the suburb’s mix of glamour and practicality kept it bulletproof.

“It’s the full package, beautiful, generous blocks and statement homes, but also the bay, the beach and that pretty coastal streetscape,” Ms Bakos said.

“Add exclusive private schools on the doorstep and you’ve got an irresistible combination. Brighton delivers everything high-net-worth families want without feeling disconnected.”

Ms Bakos said celebrity residents amplified the suburb’s pull.

“People like the idea of being near that world, it signals success,” she said.

“The halo effect is real in these postcodes, but so is the lifestyle. The people who move here rarely leave, and that keeps supply tight.”

She said Brighton’s concentration of media personalities such as Mike Larkan, Bianca Chatfield and 10 News anchor Jennifer Keyte had given it “recognisable star power that few suburbs can replicate”.

Kay & Burton prestige director Darren Lewenberg said confidence was flowing back into Melbourne’s luxury market after two subdued years.

“We’ve had motivated buyers with money but little urgency,” Mr Lewenberg said.

“That’s changed, there’s more depth at the top end, multiple parties, stronger inquiry, buyers showing up at the pointy end of campaigns.

“Move-in-ready trophy homes are commanding premiums because people are paying to avoid the time and stress of rebuilding.

“Quality always sells, and Brighton’s consistency proves that. It’s as solid as it gets.”

Mr Lewenberg said Canterbury, Kew and Camberwell were also strengthening for “high-end names”, each driven by education and heritage appeal.

“They already sit in the elite bracket,” he said.

“Education catchments, tree-lined streets and international communities create compounding demand.

“Toorak will always have its gravitational pull, but these eastern-corridor suburbs are absolutely commanding attention.”

Further south, the Kay & Burton director said Portsea and Sorrento were seeing renewed interest from familiar names.

“Smart money knows this is a rare buying window,” Mr Lewenberg said.

“Aspirational families who’ve long wanted a coastal escape are acting now. The bell has rung, and the lifestyle play is back on.”

He pointed to footy figures Max Gawn and Patrick Dangerfield, along with entertainers who prefer discretion, as buyers on the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas and Surf Coast.

Mortgage broker and buyers’ advocate Madeleine Roberts said prestige buying was as much about identity as investment.

“Location is everything,” Ms Roberts said.

“People will sacrifice a feature or two on the house to secure the right postcode, telling themselves they can renovate later.

But Ms Roberts warned against aspirational first-home buyers chasing “a one-bedroom foot in the door” in celebrity suburbs just for bragging rights.

“That’s not strategy, that’s risk,” she said.

“Buy where numbers work, build equity, rinse and repeat.

“That’s how you eventually afford a serious home in a prestige area, not by parking cash in a low-growth one-bedder for clout.”

The mortgage broker and buyer advocate said Melbourne’s prestige buyers were becoming more strategic and analytical.

“School zones, commute times and resale potential are non-negotiable,” Ms Roberts said.

“The smartest buyers know prestige has to perform. Brighton, Toorak and Canterbury all do, but for different reasons, and that’s why you’ll always see big names gravitate back to them.”

Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.

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david.bonaddio@news.com.au

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From the iconic Big Banana in Coffs Harbour to the towering Big Lobster in Kingston, Australia’s landscape is dotted with more than 150 oversized attractions that have captured the nation’s imagination for over six decades.

These whimsical roadside giants, born from grassroots community initiatives in the 1960s, have evolved from simple tourist magnets into significant economic drivers for regional Australia.

But beyond their obvious role as Instagram-worthy pit stops and tourism drawcards, could Australia’s Big Things be influencing something far more substantial, the property markets of the towns they call home?

The phenomenon began in 1964 with Coffs Harbour’s Big Banana, erected to celebrate the region’s banana-growing industry.

What started as a clever marketing ploy quickly sparked a national trend, with communities across the country erecting their own oversized tributes to local industries, produce, and wildlife.

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Today, these structures serve multiple economic functions that extend far beyond their initial tourism appeal, acting as powerful branding tools that help regional towns establish distinct identities in an increasingly competitive landscape.

However, new analysis of property performance in Big Thing towns reveals a more complex relationship between quirky attractions and real estate values than their tourism success might suggest.

Coastal clusters: The advantage of location

The data shows a clear coastal advantage among Big Thing locations.

Woombye, home to the Big Pineapple on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, commands a median house price of $988,500, a remarkable 31.5 per cent above the broader regional Queensland market.

The Big Pineapple was officially relaunched in early 2024 after undergoing a major renovation project by owner Peter Kendall and his company CMC Property, who bought the icon in 2011 for $5.8 million. It had previously been owned by the same family for three decades.

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Standing 16m high, the tourism landmark first opened in 1971 in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, and included a tourist train, a zoo and a souvenir shop.

In 1983, it made international headlines when the late Diana, Princess of Wales and then Prince Charles took a ride on the train during their visit to Australia.

Similarly, West Ballina’s Big Prawn sits in a market valued at $882,500, nearly 10 per cent above regional New South Wales averages.

Even the established Big Banana market in Coffs Harbour holds steady at regional parity with an $800,000 median.

This coastal clustering reveals a fundamental truth: natural amenities and accessibility appear to matter more than novelty attractions when it comes to sustained property value growth. These seaside Big Thing towns benefit from lifestyle appeal, proximity to growth centres, and established tourism infrastructure that extends far beyond their oversized monuments.

The contrast with inland locations is stark.

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Bowen’s Big Mango, despite the town’s status as a significant agricultural centre, sits in a property market valued at just $480,000, 36 per cent below the regional Queensland average.

The iconic 10m-high sculpture was erected in 2002 as part of a community campaign.

It made headlines in 2014 when it mysteriously disappeared overnight.

It was later revealed that restaurant chain Nando’s was responsible for the heist as part of a stunt to promote a new mango and lime-flavoured sauce.

As a sign of appreciation to community support, Nando’s later donated the Big Mango’s doppelganger, the Mini Mango to Bowen.

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The Mini Mango is a 6m-high mango that was constructed to appear as the Big Mango in Melbourne as the actual $90,000 Big Mango was too big to make the trip.

The Mini Mango is located on Bowen’s foreshore.

Meanwhile, Mission Beach’s Big Cassowary is equally doing little to drive property prices.

Its property market is valued at $550,000, despite its coastal location, trailing regional markets by 27 per cent.

These gaps suggest that geographic isolation and limited economic diversity can’t be overcome by tourism attractions alone.

Wine and heritage: Exceptions to the rule

Intriguingly, some heritage-focused Big Things in wine and tourism regions buck the trend. Rutherglen’s Big Wine Bottle shows exceptional 15.7 per cent annual growth and 166 per cent growth over the decade, likely driven by the Murray Valley’s evolution into a premium wine tourism destination.

This success illustrates how Big Things can amplify existing economic strengths rather than create them from scratch.

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Tasmania presents an interesting case study where both Big Thing locations, Penguin and Latrobe, outperform their regional market.

The Big Penguin town commands $615,000 (12 per cent above regional Tasmania), while Latrobe’s Big Platypus sits marginally above regional averages.

This suggests the island state’s broader property performance has lifted all markets, regardless of roadside attractions.

The limits of novelty: Big things in stagnant economies

The data also highlights the limitations of Big Things in economically stagnant areas. Goulburn’s Big Merino, celebrating the traditional wool industry, sits 21.8 per cent below regional NSW averages at $629,000.

Similarly, Humpty Doo’s Big Boxing Crocodile, despite proximity to Darwin, shows minimal 10-year growth of just 8.3 per cent, well below the territory’s broader performance.

Western Australia’s Big Apple in Donnybrook provides another cautionary tale, sitting 13.7 per cent below regional WA averages despite the state’s resource-driven property boom.

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This underperformance suggests that even in strong regional markets, isolated locations struggle to capitalise on broader economic momentum.

The evidence suggests Big Things work best as tourism amplifiers in areas with strong fundamental advantages, coastal lifestyle appeal, wine tourism potential, or proximity to growth corridors.

They appear incapable of single-handedly transforming property markets in isolated or economically declining areas.

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As Australia’s regional property markets continue their current growth trajectory, these findings indicate that while Big Things remain important cultural icons and tourism drivers, their influence on real estate values depends heavily on location, accessibility, and broader economic fundamentals.

In the complex world of property markets, it seems that substance ultimately trumps size, even when that size reaches truly monumental proportions.

You can read more about Australia’s Big Things here.

– By Vanessa Rader, Ray White Head of Research and Lydia Kellner, News Corp

The post Do Big Things boost property values? New data reveals surprising truth appeared first on realestate.com.au.