Cheap, not nasty: Australia’s best value suburbs to buy a home

Despite all the gloom and doom about the housing market there are affordable homes. Here’s the suburbs you can still bag a bargain.

Despite all the gloom and doom about the housing market there are affordable homes out there if you know where to look.

According PropTrack’s first ever Affordability Hotspots report, pockets of affordability have opened up across Sydney, including just 10km from the CBD and across in-demand Parramatta.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, the Melton region to Melbourne’s west has been tagged as among homebuyers’ best hope.

In Queensland, the southeast corner of the state has been revealed as an affordability hotspot, with the PropTrack report revealing there are 362 suburbs with a house price below $600,000 across the state.

In Adelaide, the most affordable areas emerged as suburbs from Outer Harbor to Semaphore South and across to Devon Park and is bounded by the Gawler line and the Barker Inlet.

Just over 10km from the Sydney CBD, Canterbury has emerged as a housing affordability hotspot.

The report uses PropTrack’s Affordability Index to measure how many homes sold from July 2023 to March 2024 can be deemed affordable for households when spending 25 per cent of their pre-tax income on mortgage repayments.

Report author, PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan, said the index takes into account all incomes, not just a median, across the state.

“A higher affordability index tells you that households can afford a greater share of homes in that region,” Mr Ryan said.

“This measures the affordability for the people who already live in that city, and is geared towards first home buyers who are borrowing 80 per cent of the home’s value.”

HOME AFFORDABILITY HOTSPOTS IN SYDNEY AND NSW

Western Sydney’s heartland has emerged as a bastion of hope for first homebuyers, as pockets of affordability begin to emerge in the property market.

PropTrack’s exclusive Affordability Hotspots 2024 report has revealed the Parramatta and South West regions are where young buyers have the best chance at getting a foot in the door in the greater Sydney area.

It then gives regions a score based on the proportion of properties that households across all income percentiles can afford.

Western Sydney’s heartland has emerged as a bastion of hope for first homebuyers, as pockets of affordability begin to emerge in the property market.

Parramatta is another area that offers hope of affordability for struggling homeseekers.

PropTrack’s Affordability Hotspots 2024 report has revealed the Parramatta and South West regions are where young buyers have the best chance at getting a foot in the door in the greater Sydney area.

Parramatta topped the list for Sydney suburbs with a score of 0.49, which means on average, Sydney households can purchase nearly half the homes at their income percentile. Meanwhile, Canterbury – just 10km from the CBD – was Sydney’s second-most affordable region, along with Mount Druitt and Liverpool, with scores of 0.46.

Auburn was fifth with a score of 0.42, while Wyong (0.4), Merrylands-Guildford (0.4), Penrith (0.39), St Marys (0.39) and Campbelltown (0.38) rounded out the top 10.

MORE on Sydney and NSW’s home affordability hotspots

HOME AFFORDABILITY HOTSPOTS IN MELBOURNE AND VICTORIA

The Melton region to Melbourne’s west and apartments in the city have been tagged as homebuyers’ best hope for an achievable first-step into the property market.

PropTrack’s first ever Affordability Hotspots report found a surplus of units in the Victorian capital and a $573,000 median home price meant a couple earning the city’s $124,000 average household income could afford to buy almost a quarter of all homes available, giving them extraordinary choice — but only for apartments

Outside of the city centre, a region from Melton to Bacchus Marsh was the next best place for buyers – though local agents have warned the region where homes cost about $610,000 has become a homebuyer battleground with hundreds swarming real estate listings.

The Melbourne CBD is another affordable area.

The report found budget buyers’ best bet for an affordable option for a typical home in the state was in regions like the Grampians, Swan Hill and Mildura where they could pay $335,000-$415,000 for a home.

Those on regional Victoria’s $87,500 average household income could afford between 19 and 38 per cent of all homes in the three regions.

MORE on Melbourne and Victoria’s home affordability hotspots

HOME AFFORDABILITY HOTSPOTS IN BRISBANE AND QUEENSLAND

The number of suburbs where buyers can score a house in Queensland for under $600,000 has halved in just four years, with units providing the only real hope for first home purchasers in the southeast corner.

New data shows that there are now just 362 suburbs with a house price below $600,000 across the state, down from 630 in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic property boom. Back then, buyers had the choice of suburbs across every Queensland region.

Now there are just five suburbs across Brisbane with median house values below $600,000 – Russell, Lamb, Macleay and Coochiemudlo islands, and Rocklea.

There are no house suburbs under $600,000 remaining on the Sunshine Coast, and just one on the Gold Coast, Stapylton.

But for those able to stretch their budget a bit further, the PropTrack Affordability Hotspots 2024 report has revealed where price-conscious first home buyers and investors should be looking now.

Ipswich offers plenty of options for homebuyers in the Greater Brisbane Area.

In the Brisbane region, areas to the south and west were the most favourable for cash-strapped buyers, whilst in the regions, buyers should look to the Outback, Townsville, Darling Downs-Maranoa, Central Queensland and Mackay regions.

“Brisbane features favourable affordability to the south and west of the city,” the report said.

“Three of the most affordable areas are in the southern Logan-Beaudesert broader region – with a median income (in a) Brisbane household able to afford one in five homes in the most affordable Springwood–Kingston region.

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HOME AFFORDABILITY HOTSPOTS IN ADELAIDE AND SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Adelaide’s booming house price growth has dampened affordability across South Australia to the point where the average buyer looking to purchase in one particular region could afford to purchase just two out of every 100 homes there.

According to PropTrack’s Affordability Hotspots 2024 report, median income earning households – those earning $91,400 and spending 25 per cent of their pre-tax income on mortgage repayments – could afford to buy just two per cent of all homes sold from July 2023 to March 2024 in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Statistical Area 3 region of Port Adelaide – West.

This area includes suburbs from Outer Harbor to Semaphore South and across to Devon Park and is bounded by the Gawler line and the Barker Inlet.

The region has experienced a price growth of 12 per cent over the past year – growth Ray White Port Adelaide principal Nick Psarros said was keeping young people out of the market.

“The growth has been phenomenal – and wages aren’t keeping up,” he said.

“The goalposts keeps moving and moving quickly.

MORE on Adelaide and South Australia’s home affordability hotspots

Originally published as Cheap, not nasty: Australia’s best value suburbs to buy a home