Crunching the numbers on house prices and earnings in Tasmania

We’ve crunched the numbers to find Tasmania’s most and least affordable housing by postcode, and how much you need to earn to pay the average mortgage. See where you can afford to buy.

PROPERTY around Hobart remains out of reach for people on average incomes, according to data complied by a financial comparison service.

Comparison website Finder has crunched the numbers on housing affordability in Tasmania, detailing the most and least affordable postcodes and the salary required to pay off the average mortgage.

The list is based on the lowest 3.27 per cent interest rate currently available.

Unsurprisingly, all the least affordable suburbs were in southern Tasmania, with Battery Point topping the list.

Tasmania’s West Coast had the four most affordable postcodes.

Finder property expert Graham Cooke said with the average salary in Tasmania about $70,000, buying a home was still “on the more affordable side” compared with the rest of the country.

However Mr Cooke said that did not mean people on an average salary with a mortgage were having an easy time.

“The cost of living in Australia is high, and with wage growth stagnating some families in Tasmania might find themselves struggling to make ends meet,” he said.

Battery Point tops the list of least affordable postcodes.

Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Tony Collidge said while real estate in Hobart may be relatively affordable, a lack of supply was the key issue faced by both buyers and renters.

“We need more supply, if we get more supply everything else will adjust itself, prices will stop going up as much as they have and so will rents,” he said.

HOBART THE LEAST AFFORDABLE CAPITAL TO RENT

Tasmanian Council of Social Service CEO Kym Goodes said securing a mortgage was out of reach for a growing number of Tasmanians.

“Eighty-eight per cent of Tasmanians earn under $80,000 and the latest labour market data shows 27,500 are underemployed,” Ms Goodes said.

“With underemployment levels rising and casualised work the reality for many, employment instability makes buying a home almost impossible, even though in some parts of the state a mortgage repayment is likely to be less than rent in the private rental market. So, securing a mortgage – the gateway to the great Australian dream of owning your own home – is well out of reach for many Tasmanians.

“The average mainland Australia household earns 15.2 per cent more than the average Tasmanian household. But what the data doesn’t show is the significant cost of living rises for Tasmanians over the same period, with Hobart now the most unaffordable capital city in the country.”

Queenstown is the most affordable postcode in which to buy.