Now You Can See How Much of Any Property's Price is the Land
For 7.5 million properties across every state and territory, Microburbs shows you the split between land value and building value. Search any suburb or property to find out.
Luke Metcalfe · Microburbs Research · 2026Know what you are actually paying for
When you buy a property, part of your money goes to the land and part goes to the building. The land holds its value. The building ages. Whether you are buying your first home, planning a renovation, or assessing a development site, the split between land and building changes the decision.
Every Microburbs suburb report and property report now shows you:
- The estimated land value for that property or suburb
- The land-building split (what percentage is dirt, what percentage is structure)
- Land value per square metre (for comparing locations)
- How it compares to neighbouring suburbs
What the land split looks like
Two houses can cost the same but be completely different investments.
Mosman (Sydney) - Land: $5,630/sqm
Nearly $6,000 per square metre of dirt. The building could fall down and you would still own over a million dollars of harbourside land. You are paying overwhelmingly for the location.
Point Cook (Melbourne) - Land: $806/sqm
$806 per square metre. Almost half your money is in a new house on a small block. The building matters as much as the location here.
Dubbo (Regional NSW) - Land: $229/sqm
$229 per square metre. You are paying for the house, not the location. If the building deteriorates, most of your investment goes with it.
Land value per square metre across Australia
| Suburb | City | Land Value | Land $/sqm | Land Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mosman | Sydney | $1,302,000 | $5,630 | 78% |
| Toorak | Melbourne | $1,313,000 | $5,154 | 76% |
| Adelaide CBD | Adelaide | $373,000 | $3,911 | 72% |
| Fremantle | Perth | $512,000 | $1,892 | 68% |
| Blacktown | Sydney | $493,000 | $924 | 63% |
| Point Cook | Melbourne | $395,000 | $806 | 49% |
| Dianella | Perth | $399,000 | $690 | 61% |
| Dubbo | Regional NSW | $171,000 | $229 | 37% |
| Broken Hill | Far West NSW | $21,000 | $28 | 10% |
Land in Mosman (Sydney) costs 200 times more per square metre than in Broken Hill (Far West NSW). That gap shows where value concentrates across Australia.
The base value for every suburb
For developers and renovators: Land value per square metre is a useful first-pass screening metric. In suburbs where land is $5,000/sqm, the building is a smaller part of the total. In suburbs where land is $200/sqm, the building makes up most of what you pay for. Development decisions also depend on zoning, site constraints, and build costs, but the land-building split is where the analysis starts.
When does a knockdown make sense?
When land accounts for 70%+ of a property's value, the existing building is a small part of the total. Demolition cost is modest relative to the land. In Mosman (Sydney) at $5,630/sqm, a $1.5 million house on 230 sqm sits on $1.3 million of land. A knockdown-rebuild is worth considering.
In Point Cook (Melbourne) at $806/sqm, a $760,000 house on 430 sqm sits on $395,000 of land. Knocking it down destroys half the value. Renovation may be the better option.
Land value doesn't predict growth
We tested whether suburbs with higher land values per square metre grow faster. Across 7,896 suburbs and all transactions from 2000 to 2023, the answer is no. Land value tells you what a suburb is worth today. High land value does not mean higher returns. We tested this across 7,896 suburbs and 23 years of data.
The land-building split is a tool for understanding what you own, not for picking winners.
Available in every Microburbs report
Land value estimates are now included in every suburb report and property report on Microburbs. Search for any suburb to see its land-building split, land value per square metre, and how it compares to neighbours.
Each estimate comes with a confidence range. Estimates are most reliable for standard houses in metropolitan areas. For unusual properties or areas with less data, the range is wider.
Look Up Any Suburb
Search for any Australian suburb to see how much of its property value is land.
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