What Aussies need to earn in a year to be an above-average earner – and what it means for buying a home they can afford
Australians earning more than $98,218 a year are now considered above-average earners if they work full-time.
With this salary, one professional can now buy a house worth more than €639,000.
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Thursday shows the average full-time salary rose 4.5 per cent in the year to November, to $1,889 a week, before bonuses and overtime.
Someone earning the average full-time salary of $98,218 can now borrow $511,500, with RateCity revealing that banks can lend a borrower with a 20 percent deposit around 5.2 times their salary.
Australians earning more than $98,218 a year are now considered an above-average earner if they work full-time (pictured is a bartender from Sydney)
RateCity research director Sally Tindall said the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 13 rate hikes in 18 months – which took the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent – had eroded what banks could lend.
The middle-income Australian borrower, with $127,875 in savings, can now buy a $639,375 home if he can manage $3,146 in monthly repayments.
That is below the average house price in all Australian capitals.
The maximum borrowing capacity of $511,500 for a middle-income individual is well below the average new mortgage in Australia of $624,383, suggesting that couples typically take out a home loan.
RateCity research director Sally Tindall said the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 13 rate hikes in 18 months – which took the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent – had eroded what banks could lend.
“A total of 13 increases from the RBA – four of which are doubling – have shattered the maximum amount households can borrow from the bank,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘However, with the RBA now in a holding pattern, wage growth across the country could lead to borrowers’ budgets rising rather than falling, especially once the phase three tax cuts start to take hold.’
There are few options if they buy a run-down house near Mount Druitt in Sydney’s far west, or a house in St Albans in Melbourne’s northwest.
In Brisbane you can use that money to buy a house in Kallangur, in the north of the city.
Mining-rich Western Australia had the highest average full-time salary of $109,600 among the states, making it the only state where workers are typically paid in six figures.
Perth has an average house price of $708,335, after rising 17 per cent in the year to January, data from CoreLogic shows.
Someone earning just under $110,000 can borrow $544,500 to buy a home worth $680,625.
In NSW the average full-time salary is $98,353, meaning someone could borrow $512,400 to buy a $640,500 house.
This would not be enough to buy the average Sydney home, priced at $1.395 million, or the mid-market unit at $828,525.
Victoria’s average full-time salary of $96,621 would allow someone to borrow $501,000 to buy a $626,250 home with a 20 percent down payment.
Someone earning the average full-time salary of $98,218 can now borrow $511,500, with RateCity revealing that banks can lend a borrower with a 20 per cent deposit 5.2 times their salary (pictured is an auction in Sydney)
That is below the average house price in all Australian capitals. But there are opportunities if they buy a run-down house near Mount Druitt in Sydney’s far west (pictured is a house on a market in Bidwill with an auction price of $600,000)
This is well below the average house price of $942,750 in Melbourne.
Queensland’s equivalent wage of $95,696 would borrow $494,700 to buy a $618,375 home, which is well below Brisbane’s average house price of $888,628.
The average full-time salary of $90,241 in South Australia means someone could borrow $458,600 to buy a $573,250 home, which is well below the average house price of $774,969 in Adelaide.
Tasmania’s equivalent wage of $86,840 means someone could borrow $436,000 to buy a $545,000 home, a level well below Hobart’s average house price of $692,619.
The average wage of $95,306 in the Northern Territory would allow someone to borrow $492,200 to buy a $615,250 house, which is slightly more than Darwin’s average house price of $578,342.
With Canberra’s average salary of $108,150, a professional could borrow $534,900 to buy a $668,625 home – a level well below the city’s average house price of $968,248.