In 1955 a typical Burnside house was about $9,800, or 5.8 years of an average wage. In 2026 it is about $1.63M, or 16.3 years. Here is the decade-by-decade version, what was standing when, and what her block does now.
Modelled, not measured. Prices are the Adelaide median house price of the day (rounded, dollars of the day) scaled to where Burnside sits against the city median in 2026, blended toward the median for earlier decades because suburbs move up and down the ladder. Wages are national average full-time earnings. Treat every figure as "about". For actual sales history, ask an agent or the state valuer.
Trust homes and fibro on the fringe; stone villas closer in.
Cream brick veneer, one bathroom, a Hills Hoist.
Brown brick project homes, ducted evaporative, a family room.
The ensuite arrives. Colorbond replaces galvanised iron.
Four-two-two under one roof. Rendered feature walls.
Biggest houses in the world. Alfresco and theatre room.
Two-for-one subdivisions start. Solar on a third of roofs.
7-star, all-electric, 300m² blocks. Or a rebuild on Nan's.
Includes ~20% infill that replaced an earlier house.
Rebuild pressure in Burnside is medium. A knockdown or a subdivision every few streets. Character is shifting but the original stock still dominates. Big blocks attract single knockdown rebuilds rather than subdivisions, because the zoning and the neighbours resist two-for-one.
Locals know: Creeks from the hills run under and beside more streets than the maps suggest. Ask about the stormwater easement.
A typical Burnside block is 700-1,200m². Three realistic paths in 2026.
Blocks of 700-1,200m² in Burnside are the size developers look for. Two 4-bed homes typically $550K-$750K each to build, before demolition and civils.
Read the guideOne 220-260m² family home on the full block, $520K-$900K depending on builder tier. Keeps the backyard.
Read the guideRoof, rewire, switchboard, salt damp and a bathroom: $60K-$120K to bring an old Adelaide house up to modern comfort.
Read the guideModelled on the Adelaide median of the day and Burnside's current position relative to the city, a typical Burnside house was around $14,500 in 1965, or about 5.2 years of an average full-time wage. In 2026 it is around $1.63M, or about 16.3 years of wages. These are indicative figures, not sales records.
Roughly 20% of today's homes in Burnside are infill: townhouses, courtyard homes or rebuilds that replaced an earlier house. Rebuild pressure is medium: A knockdown or a subdivision every few streets. Character is shifting but the original stock still dominates.
The largest share of Burnside (30%) is interwar bungalows (1920s-1940s). Californian and Tudor-style bungalows in red brick or freestone, tiled roofs, deep verandahs, leadlight windows. Many on 700-900m² blocks.
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