Sydney’s cheapest suburbs within 5km, 10km and 15km of the CBD

Looking for the most affordable homes within five kilometres of the Sydney city centre? There’s only one direction to travel: go west.

The cheapest three suburbs for houses in the inner circle – although “cheap” is a relative term – are all in the inner west, where prices are appreciably lower than in the east or north.

Erskineville offers relative value for inner-city home buyers.Credit: James Brickwood

House buyers on a budget, according to the figures from property data company CoreLogic, should head straight for Erskineville, with its median price falling over the past three months by 3.9 per cent to $1,861,500.

Alternatively, Newtown is 4.3 per cent down to $1,880,100, and Enmore hasn’t changed at all, sitting at $1,896,400.

“The ‘cheapest’ houses within five kilometres of the CBD aren’t necessarily cheap, but they are in the most affordable areas,” said Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s head of Australian research. “Most of those are in the inner west area, with Erskineville at No.1.

“That’s still nearly $1.9 million, but it does offer a lot more value when you look at those in the eastern suburbs or the north. And the beauty of houses in Erskineville is that there are a lot of duplexes and small houses, and houses with small layouts, so they can be more affordable.”

Erskineville is a great place to live, according to Chris Nunn of BresicWhitney Inner West. “It’s a lovely village, with excellent restaurants and pubs, and that ticks a lot of boxes for people,” he said. “It’s a great alternative to the more expensive suburbs of Paddington or Surry Hills, and buyers priced out of those places often come to Erskineville.

“They’re usually taken aback by what a wonderful location it is with so much public transport – stations at both Erskineville and Macdonaldtown – and so much amenity. It’s fantastic value.”

Nunn recently sold a three-bedroom-plus-study house at 21 Burren Street, Erskineville, before auction. It had a price guide of $1.65 million to $1.8 million and fetched $1.91 million.

Rounding out the top five are Darlington in the inner south at $1,930,000 and Camperdown in the inner west at $2,019,000.

For units, the best value is in Ultimo at a median of $703,241 and Chippendale at $825,374, both in the inner city, and then back in the inner west, Newtown at $853,821, Stanmore at $874,257 and Camperdown at $949,533.

“These all tend to be places that have high-density housing that’s well established,” said Owen. “They’re often in what used to be low-priced suburbs, but they’ve all been undergoing a gentrification process.”

Ultimo was rarely on anyone’s wish list 20 years ago but now has a great deal going for it, Century21 City Quarter’s John Vytrhlik said.

“Its proximity to the CBD is really in its favour, but it also now has so many universities and so much retail,” Vytrhlik said. “It has good transport links to the CBD and inner west, and there’s also talk of the tram line being extended to Broadway.”

He has a two-bedroom unit with views at 1203/58 Mountain Street in the suburb going to auction for an expected $1.25 million.

The most affordable in the 5-10 kilometre category are Sydenham in the inner west with a median of $1,616,000 after a 3.1 per cent fall in the past three months, Arncliffe to the south at $1,684,000 after a 2.8 per cent drop and Tempe in the inner west at $1,685,000 – up just 0.2 per cent.

Sydenham has improved in the past few years, and the metro has boosted it recently, says Tim Gorring of Ray White Erskineville, Alexandria, Glebe and Surry Hills. “It’s gentrified quite a lot, it’s so close to all the amenity of Marrickville and it has a good school catchment area,” he said.

“The affordability and proximity to the city are really in its favour, and people are finding that, by coming just that little bit further out, they can buy a lot more.”

He’s selling a four-bedroom house at 63 Park Road, Sydenham, with a price guide of $1.8 million to $1.98 million.

Top of the pops for units in the same 5-10 kilometre band from the city is Eastlakes at $691,655, Canterbury at $728,851 and Hillsdale at $752,463.

“Eastlakes is a very affordable suburb and the beauty of it is its lifestyle,” said Clay Chigwidden of Agents and Co Property Group who’s selling a two-bedroom top-floor unit in a boutique block at 5/1 O’Rourke Crescent with a price guide of $685,000.

“It’s been undergoing quite a substantial change with the Crown Group building there, and it now has a real coffee culture and has plenty of shops with a new Aldi, a Woolworths Metro and a lot of cafes. It’s a really great up-and-coming place.”