Where are the next million dollar suburbs?

Atom Go Tian | Senior Data Analyst | Ray White Group

Seven suburbs are poised to cross the million-dollar threshold in 2026, all currently sitting between $950,000 and $990,000 in median house prices.

Two suburbs from Christchurch lead the charge: neighbouring Ilam and Upper Riccarton, located 5km west of the city centre near the University of Canterbury. These areas benefit from their proximity to the university and established infrastructure.

Interestingly, two suburbs on the list aren't from major cities. Hurdon in New Plymouth offers beautiful scenery with the iconic Mount Taranaki as a backdrop, plus a vibrant arts scene and diverse outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, Cromwell in Central Otago sits in the heart of New Zealand's premium wine region, known for award-winning Pinot Noir and tourist attractions like Lake Dunstan and the Highlands Motorsport Park.

Rounding out the list are Chartwell in Hamilton, Paremata in Wellington, and Opaheke in Auckland. All three suburbs sit on the outskirts of their respective cities, signaling healthy geographic expansion of the premium market.

Six additional suburbs are on our watchlist, hovering just below the million-dollar threshold. While their three-year average growth suggests they won't reach this milestone within the next 12 months, they remain worth monitoring as only a small price gap separates them from seven-figure valuations.

Three of these suburbs are in Christchurch: Marshland in the north, Aidanfield in the southwest, and Bryndwr (which neighbors Ilam).

The remaining three are spread across the country—Bayview in Auckland, Fitzroy in New Plymouth, and Mosgiel in Dunedin City.

Where are the current million dollar suburbs?

New Zealand currently has 344 suburbs with median house prices above $1 million, a number that has been declining over the past four years.

This figure peaked in 2021 alongside house prices, when there were 514 million-dollar suburbs. Since then, as median house prices have stabilised nationwide, this count has fluctuated around 350 suburbs. This recent flat price growth explains why we're not expecting many new suburbs to join the million-dollar club.

Auckland dominates the upper end of the housing market, accounting for 78 per cent of all million-dollar suburbs.

Wellington currently holds the second-largest share of premium suburbs, but Christchurch is growing quickly and may overtake Wellington to become number two. Just looking at the list of suburbs with the highest potential to reach $1 million and Christchurch claims five of the 13 contenders.

The remaining eight are well-distributed across different cities and regions, indicating broad-based growth potential beyond the main centers.

MethodologyTo project house prices for 2026, we analysed median sales prices from each suburb over the past three years. We calculated the year-on-year growth rate for each of those three years, then took the average of these three growth rates to determine a typical annual price increase for each area. Using this average growth rate, we projected what median house prices will be in 2026.

To ensure our predictions are reliable, we only included suburbs that had at least 10 house sales per year, which gives us enough data to make meaningful calculations. Essentially, this approach assumes that the average price growth patterns we've seen in recent years will continue into next year.