The average house price in Australia has surpassed 1 million Australian dollars ($652,000; £483,000) for the first time as the country grapples with a housing crisis.
According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the average house price in the March quarter was 1,002,500 Australian dollars, up 0.7% from the previous quarter.
The country has some of the world's least affordable cities, with buying or renting a place increasingly out of reach for many Australians.
Experts say the crisis is driven by a housing shortage, a growing population, property investors' tax incentives, and insufficient social housing investment.
According to the ABS, the country's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), has the most expensive homes on average, with prices starting at A$1.2 million, followed by Queensland at A$945,000.
The agency's Mish Tan said the states of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland were "the main drivers of growth".
While average house prices rose in all states and territories in the March quarter, the annual rate of growth remained sluggish, he added.
The figures cover 11.3 million homes in Australia - a range of property types, from freestanding homes to terraced houses and apartments.
Michael Fotheringham, head of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, is not surprised to see the $1 million benchmark pass through.
While it's a "horrifying" and "interesting" statistic, he said it's the result of a national trend that has been going on for years where house prices have outpaced wages and put "a lot of pressure" on the housing system.
"This is not just an affordability issue for low-income families - it's an issue for middle-income families too," he said.
"Globally we see the term 'housing crisis' being used in many developed countries," he added, "[but] our housing prices have increased sharply so it's one of the less affordable countries overall."
Rental availability has also been an issue in recent years, and there isn't enough social housing to meet demand.
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average price of a house in Britain is about half that in Australia (£560,000), while a house in Canada will cost an average of about A$763,000 (C$680,000).
Dr Fotheringham said Canada faces similar challenges to Australia, but the UK is significantly different because it has more council estates and social housing.
However, the UK and Australia share "ambitious housing targets" that see Australia build 1.2 million homes and the UK 1.5 million over the next five years.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who won a second term in an election last month in which housing has been a top issue, said on Tuesday that his government was looking to further reduce red tape for developers. They have long complained that planning laws prevent them from building enough homes.
"One of the things we need to do is simplify it," he said, adding, "Developers are saying it's too complicated [and it] also increases costs," according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
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