Sydney real estate: city’s most affordable lifestyle suburbs revealed

These are the top 10 suburbs where Sydney buyers can find the best lifestyle with the most bang for their buck.

They used to be the underdogs of the Sydney property market – but now they are the city’s most wanted.

New data provided exclusively to the Sunday Telegraph has revealed the top 10 suburbs where buyers can find the best lifestyle with the most bang for their buck – and it’s a story of three regions.

More first home buyers are heading west for their property goals. Picture: Jeremy Piper.

St George, The Sutherland Shire and Western Sydney made up the bulk of the suburbs listed, with families attracted to the greenery, transport and shops on offer for less than the inner city average.

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The PRD study looked at suburbs that had a median house or unit price lower than the Sydney metropolitan median while also having good investment potential, low crime rates, easy access to amenities and strong investment into future development.

The St George suburb of Kogarah was listed as an affordable liveable suburb.

Parramatta took top prize in the list of house markets thanks to its median of $1.425m – almost $400,000 less than Sydney’s metropolitan median of $1.8m. It also had the highest amount of development investment, a metric indicating future potential economic growth.

Nearby Harris Park was the top unit market listed. It had a median of $452,000 compared to the Sydney metropolitan median of $790,000.

The St George suburbs of Peakhurst, Banksia, Rockdale and South Hurstville all made the list for housing, as did the Sutherland Shire suburbs of Jannali and Como.

Five out of the 10 unit markets were from Western Sydney, with Parramatta, North Rocks and Silverwater making the cut alongside the St George suburbs of Riverwood, Penshurst and Bexley.

PRD chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said falling property prices in the second half of 2022 meant almost twice the number of suburbs fell under the metro median than when they last ran the study six months ago.

She said the suburbs chosen represented a balance between liveability and affordability.

Most were either up and coming suburbs that buyers hadn’t considered before or were “tucked behind” other more expensive suburbs.

She said suburbs that had been gentrified in recent years such as Parramatta and Banksia were attracting more people through improved infrastructure and new development.

“There are also some suburbs like Rockdale and Kogarah where, because more people are moving there, businesses have followed,” she said.

Families were also attracted to the lower price tag.

“A lot of these places are very well served when it comes to having good schools, green spaces and public hospitals,” she said.

“They are family friendly suburbs with a lesser entry price than the Sydney metro market.”

Upside Realty real estate agent Judy Pope said more first home buyers were looking to Western Sydney following interest rate hikes, with many attracted to the lower price point, space and sense of community on offer.

Lewis Toffolo and Taylor Best in the inner city suburb of Redfern. Picture: Jeremy Piper.

“It’s a mix of good schools, stations nearby and shopping centres,” she said.

Redfern healthcare worker Lewis Toffolo is looking to buy his first home in Western Sydney after realising he could buy a three-bedroom house for the same price as a one-bedroom apartment in the inner city.

He was attracted to the change in lifestyle this would bring as well as the investment potential further down the track.

“Over an apartment, land appreciates,” he said. “It will be a better financial opportunity for me in the future.”

The move will also bring him closer to work.

“I’m looking at a five-minute drive instead of an hour on the train.”

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