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Hornsby median house price 12 times the average house`hold income

AN INVESTIGATION into housing affordability has revealed the median house price in Hornsby is $700,000 greater than the NSW average. A University of Sydney report also found key workers — including police officers, nurses and teachers — were being “priced out”.

Bale Koroi with his partner Monica Thavee and their son Viliame Thavee-Koroi, 1, think it is almost impossible to afford a home in the Hornsby region. They are living with Mr Koroi’s parents’ in Mt Colah. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Andrews
Bale Koroi with his partner Monica Thavee and their son Viliame Thavee-Koroi, 1, think it is almost impossible to afford a home in the Hornsby region. They are living with Mr Koroi’s parents’ in Mt Colah. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Andrews

AN INVESTIGATION into housing affordability has revealed the median house price in Hornsby is $700,000 greater than the NSW average.

The median house price in Hornsby has jumped to $1.35 million, $400,000 more than the Sydney average.

This is more than twelve times Hornsby’s average household income of $110, 992.

The figures were revealed in a discussion paper released by week.

The report revealed that very low income households across Sydney’s northern suburbs had close to no homes available in their budget, while low income households could afford just 0.2 per cent of properties on the market.

Moderate-income households could afford just 3.5 per cent of homes on the market during the study period in June 2014.

Key workers are being priced out of local markets. Picture: Jamie Hanson
Key workers are being priced out of local markets. Picture: Jamie Hanson

The report found key workers — including police officers, nurses and teachers — were being “priced out” of the Hornsby shire housing market.

“A recent study by the University of Sydney on key workers’ housing affordability in Sydney confirms that high house prices and rents are pushing key workers out of the LGA in which they serve,” it said.

“In Hornsby Shire in 2011, the median house price was 9.5 times the earnings of a key worker, in 2018, this is closer to 16 times the earnings of a key worker.”

The median house price in Hornsby is $1.35 million.
The median house price in Hornsby is $1.35 million.

First Home Buyers Australia co-founder Taj Singh said countless clients could not afford to purchase a home on the upper north shore without parental support.

“The main thing we are finding is that people that were born and raised in the area are being forced out by house prices,” Mr Singh said.

“I would say more than 50 per cent of our clients are moving out of the shire, despite living here all their lives.

“Other clients are being forced interstate to get into the housing market.”

Mr Singh said many first home buyers could not afford to fly the family nest.

“More and more first home buyers in Hornsby are living at home longer, parents are forced to stay in larger homes for longer, rather than downsizing,” he said.

“A large percentage of first home buyers are also competing against low and moderate income households for a small portion of the market.”

Daniel Cohen and Taj Singh from First Home Buyers Australia at Mt Colah.
Daniel Cohen and Taj Singh from First Home Buyers Australia at Mt Colah.

The report said Hornsby Council used a range of housing initiatives to meet the Greater Sydney Commission’s North District Plan.

“A review of development applications and take-up rates indicate that approximately 7000 new multi-unit dwellings will be constructed by 2024,” the council report said.

Approvals for multi-unit buildings in Hornsby skyrocketed in 2013, while single house development approval has remained below 500 every year since 2002.

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LIVING AT HOME LONGER

BALE Koroi and his partner Monica Thavee are first home buyers struggling to get into the local housing market.

The hospitality workers live with Mr Koroi’s parents in Mt Colah as they work to save enough to buy their first home.

“We have been browsing the market for the past six months, but housing prices are unfathomable,” Mr Koroi said.

“We have been searching for homes across Sydney, if we were to look for a reasonably priced place that we could afford it will be no where near Hornsby.”

Mr Koroi, 22, said he did not understand the high prices of homes in the Hornsby Shire, “because residents are still forced to commute two hours a day”.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/hornsby-advocate/hornsby-median-house-price-12-times-the-average-household-income/news-story/77474c0cbd1165e94c6afabaf7427233