Where you can buy a house in Australia’s two biggest cities without the Bank of Mum and Dad
Australian homebuyers who don’t rely on the Bank of Mum and Dad are being pushed further out of the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, new data shows.
A couple earning $125,021 each with a 20 per cent deposit saved would have to look far from the Sydney CBD to areas such as the Central Coast, Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown, according to figures from CoreLogic and Canstar.
If they worked in the CBD, their average commute from their new home would be 41km.
But they could get closer to the CBD if they compromised with a unit, in areas such as Edgecliff, Parramatta and Sutherland.
A couple with one low-income earner and one middle-income earner could afford a house in Penrith, Jamisontown, Liverpool and Campbelltown.
For high-income singles, affordability was reduced in only one suburb: San Remo on the north central coast. But units were affordable in areas such as the Central Coast, Mount Druitt, St Marys, Penrith and Fairfield West.
A single person on a low income could afford an apartment far from the CBD, in places like Mount Colah, Woy Woy and Umina Beach.
Demographer Simon Kuestenmacher called the affordability problem an “absolute catastrophe for social cohesion.”
Buyers without access to intergenerational wealth are increasingly pushed out of city centers (stock image)
“Those on low incomes live on the outskirts of the city, have longer commutes to work and spend less time with family,” Kuestenmacher said.
MortgageWorks director Anthony Roddy said up to 30 percent of his clients lacked cash gifts, but they were “willing to make greater sacrifices to get on the ladder.”
“They might buy a one-bedroom apartment so they can move in three to five years,” Mr Roddy said.
It was a similar story in Melbourne, although buyers there were not as excluded from the inner city.
A couple with a high income could afford a house in Windsor, Collingwood or Brunswick.
However, many of the desirable suburbs near the CBD were too expensive – unless the couple opted for a unit, in which case all the suburbs were affordable.
Kensington, Flemington and Footscray were the nearest home options for a married couple, with one member earning an average income of around $100,000 and the other a lower income of around $75,000.
A high-earning couple without cash gifts from mom and dad would have to look far from Sydney’s CBD to buy a house
CoreLogic’s head of Australian research Eliza Owen said she was concerned that unaffordable housing would push people into relationships.
“You obviously don’t want to be pressured to be in a relationship to access housing,” she said.
“I think in an ideal world people would live with others as a choice rather than a necessity.”
Homelessness has increased across NSW as the state’s housing crisis pushes increasing numbers of people onto the streets.
The annual street count, published in May, showed a 25 percent spike in the number of people sleeping rough across the state.
Sydney’s housing market has cooled in recent months – at the same time that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was trying to sell his Sydney investment home.
Mr Albanese sold his investment property in Dulwich Hill for $1.75 million on Friday.
He had lowered the price by $150,000 after it sat on the market for months without a buyer.
The three-bedroom property last sold in 2015 for $1,175,000 and property values in the area have skyrocketed by 92.8 percent since then.
The Prime Minister revealed earlier this year that he had bought a new clifftop home in Copacabana on the Central Coast for $4.3 million in preparation for his new life with fiancée Jodie Haydon.
