Why these old newspaper ads about house prices have Australians divided
Australians are divided after old newspaper advertisements resurfaced showing incredibly low prices for homes in posh suburbs.
The vintage 1980s and 1990s ads from a local newspaper in Sydney’s north were published on the Humans of Eastwood Facebook page with the cheeky caption: ‘You used to be able to buy the whole street.’
The listings showed several homes, including a house in Ryde listed for sale in 1985 for $57,950 and a mansion in Marsfield listed for sale in 1992 for $159,000.
Ryde councillor Justin Li’s post prompted angry responses from one woman, who pointed to the 18 per cent interest rates of the late 1980s.
“Gosh, so naive. The repayments were high. The wages were low. The interest rates were high,” she said.
‘It has never been easy for the average citizen to buy a home.’
But a younger man pointed out that houses were much cheaper in the 1980s, relative to their incomes, even when variable mortgage rates were still extremely high.
“People need to consider the relationship between wages and house prices,” he said.
Old newspaper ads for homes in posh suburbs have sparked a heated debate on social media (pictured is an ad from 1985)
In 2024, the average house price in North Ryde will be $2.358 million, or 19 times the average full-time wage
‘It was easier to do even with children back then, despite the high interest rates. Now the wages relative to house prices, especially in Sydney, are almost impossible.’
In a 1985 advertisement by Raine and Horne, published in the Northern District Times, a four-bedroom house in North Ryde was listed for $111,950 and a house in Putney, near the Parramatta River, for $129,000.
A house in North Ryde cost just 4.3 times the average salary of $20,649 with a 20 percent deposit forty years ago. In Putney, an upmarket waterfront suburb, it cost five times as much.
In 2024, the average house price in North Ryde will be $2.358 million, or 19 times the average full-time wage. In Putney, the average house price will be $3.43 million, or a whopping 27.9 times the typical wage.
In a 1992 advertisement by Professionals KG Hurst, shortly after the recession, a house in Beecroft was listed for $285,000.
That would have cost 7.5 times the average salary of $30,519, when the average house price in Sydney at the time was $140,280.
A 1992 Professionals KG Hurst ad, shortly after a recession, offered a home in Beecroft for $285,000
The average house price in Beecroft is now $2.435 million, or 19.9 times the average full-time salary of $98,218.
Councillor Li expected the situation to get worse.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to buy their first home due to rising house prices, interest rates and the cost of living in general,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It is unlikely that things will get easier in the future and tomorrow’s generation will probably say the same about today’s generation.’
