Most affordable suburbs in Australia revealed

Domain released its First Home Buyers Report on 2 June, identifying the 20 most affordable suburbs for units and houses in each Australian state and territory.

The lists are informed by sale prices in the year leading up to the end of March 2017, while the median price-point cut off was determined by the average mortgage size in each state and territory, as well as any relevant first home buyer grants or concessions.

While units presented a more affordable option in most states and territories, Greater Hobart bucked the trend with houses in the most affordable suburbs generally presenting a cheaper option than units.

Greater Adelaide was named the most affordable for units, with a median price of $154,000 in Rosewater, while Greater Hobart presented the best option for first home buyers looking to live close to a CBD. For example, the two most affordable suburbs for units, Claremont and Glenorchy, are 14 kilometres and 8 kilometres away from the CBD, respectively — the closest of all capital cities.

Carlton, Hobart’s 11th most affordable suburb for houses, is distanced 0.7 kilometres away from the CBD, representing Australia’s best option for affordable living close to a city. 

In Greater Sydney — where the median price cut off was $469,010 — 17 suburbs qualified for the list of affordable suburbs for houses. Fifteen of those suburbs lie along the Central Coast, with Gosford named the most affordable for houses with a median house price of $412,500.

Greater Darwin was found to be the region with the highest entry point for units in Australia, with units in Millner (the most affordable suburb in Darwin) coming in with a median price of $331,500.

Domain’s chief data scientist, Dr Nicola Powell said the property market can be a ‘daunting’ prospect for first home buyers.

She commented: “Home ownership might look a little different to how it did 50 years ago but the Aussie dream is still going strong.

“Individual circumstances will differ and first buyers will need to take many factors into account when looking to purchase including, lifestyle, borrowing power, the suburb and state they wish to live in, and more.”

The report was released just days after a raft of changes to stamp duty policy was introduced in NSW, which were brought in following complaints that first home buyers were being priced out of the housing market. 

[Related: NSW government announces housing reforms]