NSW real estate: Quickly shrinking areas where you can buy close to Sydney under $1 million

DATA shows only about 30 of the 250-odd suburbs within 20km of Sydney have a median house price under seven figures.

Where you can buy in Sydney under $1m

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IT could soon be impossible to buy a detached house within a 20km radius of Sydney’s CBD for under $1 million.

CoreLogic RP data shows only about 30 of the 250-odd suburbs in the region still have a median house price under seven figures and many are on the brink of crossing into million-dollar territory.

Real estate agents say the price shift is the next stage in Sydney’s evolution.

Sydney’s west has a number of suburbs under $1 million.

Deals below $1 million have ­already almost disappeared from the inner city — fewer than 50 detached houses are currently on the market in that price bracket within 10km of the CBD. Sydenham, a suburb of only nine compact streets, remains the last area in that inner ring where houses sell for less than $1 million.

LJ Hooker Padstow’s Lush Pillay says it’s a domino effect, with buyers getting priced out of areas closer to the city going to cheaper areas.

Forecasts indicate house prices are likely to climb 2.25 per cent across Sydney this year, but CoreLogic head of ­research Tim Lawless added that prices could climb at a faster rate in areas with good transport and cheaper prices.

This would put the Canterbury-Bankstown region, where most ­middle-ring suburbs priced under $1 million are concentrated, right in the crosshairs of another wave of price growth. This would push local suburbs such as Picnic Point, Lakemba and Revesby, where ­median house prices are around $970,000, well into Sydney’s seven-figure club.

“When you have price growth of such a substantial nature like we’ve seen in Sydney, there will be challenges,” Mr Lawless said. “Affordability has become a major issue.”

Compounding the problem is that growth in wages has not kept pace with price increases, Moodys Analytics’ Ruth Stroppiana said.

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“Affordability is a bigger challenge in Sydney than in other capitals,” she said, pointing out that an average home in Sydney was roughly a third more expensive than in Melbourne and almost two-thirds more expensive than in Brisbane, despite similar household incomes.

Among Sydney’s only ­middle-ring suburbs where prices still have some gap from $1 million are Sefton, Condell Park, Chester Hill, Yagoona and Bass Hill.

Sydney’s eastern suburbs and northern beaches.

Median prices in these areas are still under $850,000, but McGrath Bankstown principal George Kapos said buyers were wising up to the area’s cheaper prices.

“Families are coming from all over the city to the area,” he said. “They’ve realised they can still buy a detached house here and be in a commutable distance of work. Express trains mean you can often be in the city in 25 minutes.”

Tony Cain hopes to hit the $1 million mark when the couple auction their Padstow home next Saturday. Mr Cain said there had already been a lot of interest.

“The property market has always been the hottest market to be in and if you want to make a dollar, I think Sydney is the place to do that,” he said.

“I bought my first property when I was 19 in Penshurst. It was a one-bed unit. Then I sold that and bought a townhouse at 23 and bought Padstow at 30. If you can get your foot in the door, sometimes you have to move out to the ’burbs to get ahead.”