Mind the (price) gap: Where Sydney home buyers can save big by moving one train stop

House hunters can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by spending a few extra minutes on their commute, as riding one train stop further can slash sizeable sums off home values.

Median property prices drop by up to $1.19 million between neighbouring stations on the north shore line, Domain figures show, while price gaps upwards of $500,000 can be found between stations on the northern, inner west, north-west and Illawarra train and metro lines.

It comes as rising property prices, reduced borrowing power and a drop in homes for sale, force buyers to broaden their property search.

While compromising on location is often key, significant price drops can lie just one station away.

On the north shore, house hunters can save six-figure sums for each extra stop they remain on the train between Lindfield, with a $3.8 million median house price on March quarter figures, Killara ($3.7 million), Gordon ($3.56 million) and Pymble ($3.4 million).

They can save $715,000 if they commute a further three minutes to Turramurra ($2.69 million).

In Turramurra, a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house on more than 1000 square metres recently sold for $2.7 million, while a five-bedroom three-bathroom house on a smaller block in Pymble sold for $3,392,000.

Buyers’ agent Rich Harvey, chief executive of Propertybuyer.com.au said Pymble had more premium homes, driving up the median price.

“There are some really large prestigious blocks, whereas in Turramurra, once you get off the ridge line ... you find there are smaller blocks ... and an inferior stock and style of properties,” he said, adding that even within north shore suburbs there could be a sizeable price gap between homes on the east or west side of the railway line.

It was a similar story on the northern line, Harvey said, where median house price drop almost $600,000 between Beecroft ($2,312,500) and Pennant Hills ($1,717,500), and fall again at the next stop, Thornleigh, ($1,585,000).

For unit buyers, median prices drop $380,000 between St Leonards ($1.3 million) and Artarmon ($920,000) and by almost $1.2 million between the harbourside suburbs of Milsons Point ($2.25 million) and North Sydney ($1.06 million).

“North Sydney is very built up and dense, compared to Milsons Point, which has some of the most iconic views in Australia ... and very limited stock,” Harvey said.

For inner west house buyers, going one stop further from Stanmore ($2 million) to Petersham ($1,805,000) can save $195,000, for which they could expect to purchase a three-bedroom one-bathroom Federation home in both suburbs, based on recent sales.

Michelle May, of Michelle May Buyers Agents, said Stanmore real estate was typically considered more blue chip, due to the homes on offer and a desirable school catchment zone.

She urged buyers though to consider how much further their budget could stretch a few stops along the train line, but warned median price gaps also reflected the types of homes on offer and their access to amenities.

“If it allows you to have a study nook or second bedroom, or a car space, or buy in a nicer street or whatever it is, I would definitely look into it,” she said, adding buyers could have more enjoyment and capital growth from a better home further away.

However, there were instances where a longer commute could cost buyers. Median prices lift by $900,000 between Chatswood ($2.7 million) and Roseville ($3.6 million), and higher still between Burwood ($2,317,500) and Strathfield ($3.3 million), with the latter in both cases offering larger block sizes and more prestige homes.

On the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line, buyers can save big if they pass Hurstville ($1.79 million) and hop off the train at Penshurst ($1.5 million) or Mortdale ($1,333,500), but prices then jump up at the riverside suburb of Oatley ($1,890,250).

Ray White Georges River principal Fraser Glenn said the region was drawing more buyers from the inner west and eastern suburbs, noting prices had soared earlier in the pandemic with the rise of remote working.

Buyers priced out of Oatley tended to look to the McRaes Estate region in Penshurst, a pocket of streets offering quality homes on sizeable blocks a five to 10-minute walk from the station, Glenn said. Good houses in Mortdale were further from the station, but were still proving popular with families.

“[Access to public transport] is still a pretty high priority, but it’s definitely dropped off from where it was before [the pandemic],” he said.

“If you’re only going to the city one or two days a week, and you can get more value for money, more space at home [by purchasing further along the train line] that may take priority.”

Those looking to buy closer to the beach, may want to consider hopping off at the line’s second last stop, as the median unit prices in Woolooware ($764,250) are well below those in neighbouring Cronulla ($1,025,000).

Elsewhere, median prices drop more than $500,000 between Bella Vista ($2,197,555) and Kellyville ($1.65 million) on the metro north west, and also record sizeable drops between Canley Vale ($1,069,000) and Cabramatta ($880,000) on the Cumberland line, and Belmore ($1,312,500) and Lakemba ($1 million) on the Bankstown line.