Interactive: Sydney’s cheapest train stops and where you can buy a home for under $600,000

Home seekers wanting affordable Sydney homes with train access should look along two major rail lines. Find out the cheapest train stops with our interactive.

Homebuyers seeking the fast track to affordable homes within an easy commute of the CBD should look in suburbs on the T2 Inner West and Leppington Line and T3 Bankstown Line.

Analysis of pricing data showed the suburbs along these prominent rail lines were among the few areas where it was still possible to buy housing near a train stop for under $600,000.

Buying just a few spots further than their intended suburb could also save home buyers up to $800,000 on some rail lines, according to the realestate.com.au data.

The research powered with PropTrack data measured all sales within 1.5km of a Sydney train stop to determine how housing costs compared across stations and the city’s many rail corridors.

Realestate.com.au economist Paul Ryan said the research showed there was an abundance of cheaper suburbs with “excellent” transport links.

Jee Sung recently bought a unit in a Mirvac development in Green Square because of the convenience. Picture: Julian Andrews

Many were frequently overlooked by home buyers who were either unaware of the convenience of living there or because of some overriding stigma, Mr Ryan said.

“In most cases, that stigma is pretty unfair and the suburbs are undervalued considering the connections,” Mr Ryan said.

The T2 train line, which starts in the CBD and services the inner west, Parramatta and much of the southwest before ending at Leppington, had the bulk of the cheapest train stops.

This included Warwick Farm, one stop from Liverpool, which was the cheapest suburb in Sydney serviced by a train. Apartments within 1.5km of the station had a median price of $370,000.

Median unit prices ranged from $400,000-$470,000 at other stops along the line, including Fairfield, Liverpool, Cabramatta, Canley Vale, Merrylands and Guildford.

The T3 Bankstown line, which services the Canterbury-Bankstown region and parts of the inner west, had the cheapest stations within 15km of the Sydney CBD.

They included Wiley Park, Lakemba, Birrong and Belmore, where the median unit price ranged from $380,000-$480,000.

The research also showed there were cheaper alternatives to many of the city’s most popular stations, many just a few stops away on the same line.

Houses in North Ryde were an average of $842,250 cheaper than those in Chatswood, which was one stop away on the Metro North West Line. North Ryde units were $268,000 cheaper.

Kazan Hadden bought in Norwest where a station was opened in 2019. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

In the inner west, Rhodes houses were about $800,000 cheaper than those in Concord West, which was one stop away on the T9 Northern Line.

On the lower north shore, houses in Waverton were $317,500 cheaper than one stop away in North Sydney. Further north, Pymble houses were $700,000 cheaper, on average, than in Gordon a stop away.

Mr Ryan said the reason for the major price differences between certain stops were complex, but the savings on offer suggested home seekers should be flexible with their location preferences.

“There are more options if you want to be near the train than most buyers probably realise,” he said.

The Agency’s Catherine Murphy said locations near train stations tended to be rich with new unit projects and this often made them more favourable for buyers.

A good example was Epping station, which connects the new Metro North West Line through the Hills district with the rest of the city train network.

“There has been mass unit developments in the area and still more to come so it’s a much fairer market for buyers compared to houses,” Ms Murphy said.

Kazan Hadden recently bought two units with his adult children within Infinity Parks, a new development near the newly built Norwest station in the Hills.

He said the rail infrastructure motivated the purchase. “I think units in the area are really undervalued,” Mr Hadden said.

“You can buy something that’s 35 minutes’ train trip from the CBD for under $700,000. I think the prices will go up once migration returns next year.”

Inner Sydney businesswoman Jee Sung recently bought a unit in Mirvac development Portman in Green Square and said she figured being one stop from Central station would make it a better investment for the future.

“Finding parking is only going to get harder and more people will rely on the trains,” she said. “Buying near the train made a lot more sense to me.”