Always wanted to live near the stunning city of Sydney but thought it was beyond your grasp – then think again – new research from the Residential Development Council/RP Data has found that just outside Sydney lie five of Australia’s most affordable towns…
Sydney and its famous skyline has long been the priciest city in Australia. Its opera house and harbour bridge are recognized the world over and it boasts some beautiful colonial architecture.
Whilst the city itself is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country, with a median house price of £263,200; just outside the urban sprawl in regional New South Wales lie some affordable locations, from which you could still have relatively easy access into Sydney.
Baking hot Dubbo in the Central West of the state is New South Wales’s most affordable town. Dubbo seems to be a place that is a good stopping off point en route to somewhere nicer.
The town is considered the cross-roads of New South Wales as you can drive north to Brisbane, south to Melbourne, east to Sydney and Newcastle, and west to Broken Hill and Adelaide. It is also a major road and rail freight hub to other parts of New South Wales.
One of the main attractions is the open-range Taronga Western Plains Zoo, which is home to various species of endangered animals, including the White, Black and Indian Rhinoceros and runs a successful breeding program for a number of endangered species.
The town also has several fine examples of Victorian civic architecture but suffers in the height of the summer, when temperatures and humidity are unbearable.
In order to find which was the most affordable town, the research compared the average household income for each state with the median house price for different regions, and calculated the percentage of income that would be spent on mortgage repayments.
Close behind Dubbo were the towns of Tamworth, Taree, Wagga Wagga and Albury-Wodonga, all in New South Wales.
The last five most affordable towns in Australia were named as The Latrobe Valley, Mildura, Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton, all country towns in the state of Victoria.
The research found the most expensive areas in the country to be the Gold Coast, Sydney, Sunshine Coast, Perth, Ballina, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Mandurah and Mackay.
A whopping 93 per cent of the average Queensland household income would be needed to meet a mortgage repayment on a median-price Gold Coast property – once considered an affordable area.
Caryn Kakas, Executive Director of the Residential Development Council, said even the most affordable properties were putting families under stress.
“The general rule of thumb is that spending anything above 30 per cent of your income on mortgage repayments or rent is classified as housing stress.
“Every one of the top 10 urban centres on the most affordable list with the exception of the Latrobe Valley, required more than 30 per cent of the average household income to meet repayments,” added Ms Kakas.
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