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Queensland will still make vaccinated people arriving into the state from overseas quarantine for 14 days when it reopens on Monday.

Authorities have confirmed the 14-day isolation rule will remain – however people will be able to quarantine at home if they meet strict rules rather than in hotels, which costs more than $3000.

The 14 days is in comparison to three days of home isolation for people landing in Sydney and Melbourne – a rule only imposed in the wake of the new Omicron strain.

Previously no isolation was required in NSW or Victoria, provided arrivals tested negative after 24 hours.

LIVE UPDATES: Early booster shots under close watch, PM says

Queensland's quarantine rule applies to arrivals from all places except for New Zealand, which has no quarantine imposed.

Like the rest of the nation, anybody who has been in South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique or Malawi in the last 14 days must do hotel quarantine.

However, the strict rules, which also apply to people coming from interstate, mean people must either stay in a house or an apartment with no shared access such as foyers or lifts.

They can get a taxi from the airport but it must be on Queensland health's approved list.

They must also live no more than a two-hour drive from the airport, plus take another COVID-19 test on arrival.

People coming from overseas via another state need to have done 14 days quarantine there, either in a hotel or at home.

Neither NSW nor Victoria demands arrivals live in a house or apartment with no shared areas.

READ MORE: UK tightens COVID-19 rules amid Omicron surge

Queensland's flight caps, which, along with the rest of the nation, have limited Australians and their families being able to fly in, leaving thousands stranded over the past 18 months, will be removed from Monday, Queensland Health confirmed.

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However, to meet the criteria to escape hotel quarantine, people must have been vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine, which is causing issues for Aussies who have been unable to get one overseas.

A Queensland Health spokeswoman confirmed the rules.

"From Monday, if you're are coming from overseas you can home quarantine if you meet the conditions," she told 9News.

READ MORE: DFAT moves back to 'pre-COVID settings' for overseas Australians

Anybody flying into Australia must test negative three days or less before getting on a plane.

Currently, only Australians and their families can enter the country, after a plan to allow more people including skilled workers and students in was pushed back until later this month.

At the end of last month there were still 7500 Aussies who had told authorities they were trying to get home from overseas, a number which has dropped from over 40,000 before borders opened in NSW and Victoria on November 1.

All other states and territories still have flight caps and hotel quarantine.

Queensland Health says quarantine rules for international arrivals will be removed when the state hits 90 per cent vaccination, expected next month.

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Australia's property market has surged through a record-breaking 12 months as prices rose at the fastest year-on-year rate in history.

Domain's End of Year Wrap for 2021 has revealed that in 2021, Aussie house prices rose an eye-watering 21.9 per cent, the fastest annual rate of growth on record.

More than 446,000 houses were sold in 2021 and more than 144,000 units were sold, both remaining on the market for the shortest time in more than half a decade.

READ MORE: UK tightens COVID-19 rules amid Omicron surge

Domain's Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell said 2021 will be remembered as the year that radically defined the way Australians use – and prioritise – what they want in their properties.

"The challenge of grappling with a global pandemic shifted buyer priorities, placing a greater emphasis on the space in which we reside, this spurred purchases and brought forward decisions," Dr Powell said.

"Ultra-low home loan rates, government stimulus, rebounding economic conditions, returning expats and improved household savings became the perfect combination of factors for extraordinary price growth and activity in 2021."

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The highlight numbers of 2021 are nothing short of staggering.

The most expensive sale of the year was the penthouse of 163 Castlereagh Street in Sydney, which sold for an eye-watering $60 million.

Three of Australia's capital cities in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra now boast a median house price of over $1 million, and the median capital city price nationwide is also closing in on seven figures.

According to Domain, there is hope for buyers desperate to enter the market: thanks to booming conditions, many homeowners erring about selling their home are being enticed by record prices.

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"Sellers are now being enticed by record prices while tighter lending and affordability constraints have put a slight sting in buyer demand," the report reads.

"That means the year is closing in a different position to the start, with new listings coming to market quicker than they are being sold.

"While it remains a sellers' market, slowly the market is starting to tip in buyers' favour."

Looking ahead, 2022 is tipped to remain positive for homeowners while not replicating the near-insatiable growth of 2021.

"Buying opportunities are looking brighter for 2022. With new listings to remain strong, particularly over late summer and early Autumn," Domain notes.

"This will continue to bring the total homes for sale into a 'normal realm'.

"This additional choice, as well as tighter lending reducing buyers' leverage and wages growth not keeping pace with 2021 price growth, prices won't rise at the same sweltering pace as in 2021."

Domain is owned by Nine, the publisher of this website.

It's been two years since Natalia Sawran-Smith saw her family back in England – and there is no end in sight to the separation.

Ms Sawran-Smith, who has lived in Sydney for six years, had been desperately hoping this Christmas would be the one where she was reunited with family and friends.

"I usually go home every single Christmas, it's the one time of year that we all get together," she said.

"I really thought there was a glimmer of hope that I would be able to go this year."

READ MORE: UK tightens COVID-19 rules amid Omicron surge

Ms Sawran-Smith is one of hundreds of thousands of people living in Australia who still need an exemption to leave and re-enter the country.

From December 15, travel restrictions are set to ease for many temporary visa holders – including those on working holiday, skilled and student visas.

'All I want to do is go home and give my family a hug, it's not a lot to ask'

The change had been set to take place on December 1, but was delayed by two weeks because of uncertainty over the Omicron variant.

However, not all types of visas have been included in the changes.

Bridging visa holders, of which there are 360,000 in Australia, will still be required to get a travel exemption before returning from overseas.

The rules even apply to bridging visa B holders, who – outside of the pandemic – are normally allowed to travel.

So far, more than 10,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the Department of Home Affairs to allow bridging visa holders to travel overseas without an exemption.

"We pay our taxes, we provide essential skills, received double vaccinations and contribute to the economy," the petition, started by bridging visa holder Jo Davis, states.

"It's discriminatory to stop us from visiting our friends and families while others can."

Ms Sawran-Smith has lived in Australia on various types of visas over the years, including a working holiday visa and sponsorship visa. She is currently on a bridging visa B after applying to become a permanent resident in March.

"Due to the lockdowns my medical examination was cancelled and everything has been delayed," she said.

"The processing visa times for my kind of visa is 16-20 months."

Ms Sawran-Smith said it had been mentally tough to be separated from her family during the pandemic but she had persevered, thinking an end would soon be in sight.

"I have given blood, sweat and tears. There were wage cuts because of COVID, half of my work team got laid off," she said.

"During that time, I have lost people back home.

"I've had a family member die, my friend (died by suicide) and I have not been able to be there for any of it. We have had to do funerals over Zoom.

"All I want to do is go home and give my family a hug, it's not a lot to ask."

Ms Sawran-Smith said a lot of the frustration she and others felt stemmed from a lack of explanation from the government about why her visa class had been excluded.

"We don't know why have we been overlooked. It seems a simple clerical error, it's so ridiculous," she said.

'The government has made us feel like second class citizens'

Hannah Thomas, who is also from the UK, is working in Sydney on a temporary skills shortage visa, which allows for overseas travel from mid-December.

However, that visa will expire on December 22 as she moves on to a bridging visa to await permanent residency.

In April, Ms Thomas' father died suddenly and she was unable to go home for the funeral.

"A month later, my grandma passed away," she said.

"Again, I sat down in front of my laptop to watch her funeral. No goodbyes or support from my family, no closure or ability to grieve properly.

"The government has made us feel like second class citizens throughout the entire pandemic.

"It's this treatment that makes many of us question if we can continue to live in the country we love and have worked so hard to build a life in when we are still denied the simple right to visit their loved ones after two years. 

 9news.com.au has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au