Sydney suburbs set to get up to 1700 new homes

A mix of Sydney suburbs are set to get an influx of new and affordable homes, changing the landscape and offering much needed relief for home seekers.

They’re the Sydney pockets that have escaped the housing crisis, range of inner and middle-ring suburbs where a long pipeline of affordable new housing projects are set to give home buyers more choice and put downwards pressure on prices.

New data from PRD real estate has analysed the top Sydney suburbs that are set to have the largest influx of new homes, defying the slump in new builds and general NSW housing shortage.

The figures showed up to 1,700 new units were set to come to market in some areas, giving buyers an idea of where they have the best shot at securing a brand new home.

The top suburbs for both the most new stock and affordability was Merrylands, Granville, Rockdale and Auburn.

These suburbs had median prices sitting as much as $400,000 under Sydney’s lofty median of $1.421m for a house and $844,659 for units.

Young couple Inki Yun and Soyeon Jeon have purchased a new apartment at Lidcombe Central. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Other popular Sydney suburbs like Newtown, Manly, Surry Hills, Lindfield, and Penrith were stunted with no new stock on the market, according to PropTrack.

Merrylands was one of only two suburbs where some of that supply were houses, with 37 new houses, 16 townhouses and 466 units.

LJ Hooker Granville sales manager Paulette Ghaleb said the dynamics of Merrylands was changing.

“For the first time in 32 years, I’m getting more people at open homes for units than houses, that’s never happened. Their view is we just have to get into the market and If I can only buy a unit, I’ll buy a unit,” she said.

Granville is set to have 384 new apartments, with a unit price median of $553,150.

Rockdale has 269 new units with a median of $660,000 and Auburn with 238 apartments priced at a median of $551,000.

Merrylands had some of the most affordable stock coming to market.

However, PRD chief economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo said majority of homeseekers buying brand new properties would have to pay a premium.

“If you want a really good chance at scoring a new apartment or a new house, then you would have to pay quite a bit extra over the Sydney median price, which is already quite high,” she said.

Some suburbs were at risk of oversupply which could bring down prices.

“Parramatta for example is due to have 1,300 new units, where only 476 units sold in the last 12 months. If you’re working in that particularly market, you have the option to wait if you are a buyer,” Dr Mardiasmo said.

Other suburbs that topped the list with the most new housing supply were Erskineville, Lidcombe, Melrose Park and Alexandria.

Erskineville had the most, expecting 1,765 new ready to sell units and six townhouses.

“If you want a shot at the apartment market you’re looking at a median price of $975,000 in Erskineville, but if you do want as many shots as possible you’ve got more than 1,700 apartments to chose from,” Dr Mardiasmo said.

Ray White Erskineville director Shaun Stoker said the new stock would be welcomed by local buyers.

“The main buyer demographic in Erskineville is young professional couples, dual income pre-kids who are working in the city and looking to get into the market and buy their first home,” Mr Stoker said.

“A lot of them want something that's new with an ensuite and off street parking rather than an unrenovated terrace,” he said.

Erskineville is set to have more apartments on the already busy Mitchell Rd.

Buyers looking to purchase a new house had the most choice in West Pennant Hills, where 60 new houses were coming to market, with a house price median of $2.3m.

Lidcombe had the second most influx of stock.

CEO of Pheonix Builders Chris Xistouris has experienced huge interest in his project, Lidcombe Central.

“I sold out stage one which was 67 apartments, I was going to hold stage two, but I had the real estate agents calling me with more buyer interest so we opened it up early,” he said.

Located opposite Lidcombe train station, the new building will have a shopping centre underneath the apartments.

Lidcombe Central is set to have 318 apartments and a ground floor shopping centre.

“It’s within that $800,000 range for a two-bedder, it’s the centre point of Sydney and it’s still at an affordable price point,” he said.

“The lack of building starts in Sydney, there is a real lack of supply, its clear otherwise we wouldn’t be selling the way we are.”

Mr Xistouris said he didn’t see the housing problem being fixed in the next five years.

“I think the government needs to give more incentives to developers at the time you get an occupation certificate, that would help all the projects.”

Despite a decent amount of stock coming to these suburbs, Dr Mardiasmo noted there was clearly still a lack of supply to keep up with the Sydney demand.

“In terms of it being a mega city by itself, it definitely doesn’t match the number of people that are living there or are expected to live there,” she said.

This comes as reports show Sydney is falling short of meeting the NSW governments commitment to delivering 377,000 “new well-located homes” by 2029.

Lidcombe Central nsw real estate

Having recorded the largest decline in new building approvals across the country, dipping over 20 per cent in the three months to May 2024, according to the Housing Industry Association.

Young couple Inki Yun and Soyeon Jeon have purchased a two-bedroom apartment off the plan at Lidcombe Central.

Mr Yun said he had been searching for a year and a half before purchasing the home.

“I like the fact that it’s central, I’m a registered nurse so it’s an easy commute to Concord hospital, and the convenience with the new grocery shops downstairs as well,” he said.

Inki Yun (right) and his partner Soyeon Jeon pictured at Remembrance Park around the corner from where their new unit is being built. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Another big consideration was that this construction company was trustworthy and that it was worth it for the price with current interest rates and future resell value.”

Originally published as Sydney suburbs set to get up to 1700 new homes