’Gold mines’: Sydney suburbs where homeowners have most property wealth

Sydney’s richest suburbs measured by the amount of wealth people have in their homes have been revealed and many are surprise locations far from the Harbour. Search your home using our interactive.

They’re Sydney’s modern gold mines.

Thousands of homeowners have attained impressive property fortunes unburdened by mortgages in a range of surprise suburbs that are now among the wealthiest in Sydney.

SuburbTrends data has unveiled the areas where homeowners have the most equity, with unencumbered wealth estimated to total over $5 billion in many suburbs.

This included western locations far from the Harbourside areas that have historically been home to the city’s most affluent residents.

Castle Hill was the nation’s second richest suburb, with residents estimated to hold a combined $9.8 billion in fully paid off property.

Castle Hill has become one of the country’s richest suburbs.

There were about 4,600 fully paid off houses in the northwest suburb and they had a current median value of about $2.32 million, according to SuburbTrends.

Sales data showed someone who bought a house in the area in 1994 – which would mean their 30-year mortgage would likely have ended this year – would typically have paid about $247,000.

Someone who bought in 1984 would only have paid about $87,000, on average.

It was a similar story in nearby Baulkham Hills, Carlingford, Epping, Ryde and Cherrybrook – each home to about 2,400-4,000 fully paid off homes and median values of about $2.1-$2.6 million.

Homes owned outright in these areas totalled $5-$7 billion.

Australia’s wealthiest suburb measured by the total value of properties owned mortgage free was Mosman on the north shore at $12.2 billion.

Other, more surprising, suburbs with the highest property wealth included Earlwood, in the inner southwest, and Blacktown, which also had totals of over $5 billion held debt free.

SuburbTrends analyst Kent Lardner said seeing so many suburbs with thousands of homes fully paid off was “impressive” and a testament to how much values had increased in recent decades.

PropTrack economist Cameron Kusher said it was worth noting that not all value rises would have been the result of time alone. Many homeowners had invested significant sums into renovations, he said.

Homeowners tended to have less equity in higher density areas.

Analysis of ABS data showed around two thirds of Australian household wealth is now held in bricks and mortar.

Household net wealth sat at a record $16.2 trillion in March, with about $11 trillion of this held in property assets.

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Mr Lardner said most of this wealth would transfer to younger generations.

PropTrack forecasts published this week showed Sydney home prices were expected to grow another 3-6 per cent this year, a figure expected to be higher than the stubborn inflation racking the economy.