How Australians can still buy a property in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane for $600k: Here’s what you’ll get in each city
An average-income earner with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit can still buy a home in a major Australian capital city for $600,000.
In Sydney[2], that kind of money buys an apartment near a train station but in Brisbane[3] and Melbourne[4], it's still possible to buy a house in an outer suburb near the water or a unit right in the city.
Someone buying a $600,000 home would need a 20 per cent home loan deposit of $120,000 to be able to borrow $480,000 and avoid costly lender's mortgage insurance.
A surge in house prices, despite a series of Reserve Bank interest rate rises, means living at least 40km from the city centre to get a backyard.
That would mean a one-hour commute to the city centre, as record-high immigration boosts demand for somewhere to live.
With the banks unable to lend more than five times someone's pre-tax income, here's what a full-time worker on an average salary of $95,581 can buy - at a pinch.
Sydney
Sydney, Australia's most expensive city, has a very unaffordable median house price of $1.395million.
Apartments are dear too with a middle price of $828,525, which is more expensive than a typical house in Adelaide[5], Perth[6], Hobart or Darwin.
But in Riverwood, 25km south-west of Sydney's city centre, it's possible to buy an apartment for $600,000.
The median unit price here is also $607,495, CoreLogic data showed, with that kind of money buying something with two bedrooms.
Being on the southern side of the M5 motorway, it is also a bit more upmarket than nearby Punchbowl and Wiley Park.
In Sydney, $600,000 buys an apartment at Riverwood in the city's south-west
The median unit price here is also $607,495, CoreLogic data showed, with that kind of money buying something with two bedrooms
Unit values in Riverwood climbed by 6 per cent in the year to January 2024.
By comparison, greater Sydney's median house price rose by 12.8 per cent as apartment values went up by 7.7 per cent.
Sydney is almost beyond the reach of someone wanting to buy a house for $600,000 unless they find a home in need of repair and major renovation.
Shalvey, near Mount Druitt in the city's west, has a median price of $692,644, following a 15.2 per cent annual increase.
Brisbane
In Brisbane, the median house price rose by 15 per cent to $888,628.
That means someone on a $600,000 budget has to consider an outer suburb north or south of the city centre, and buy something that is slightly below the suburb mid-point.
Houses at Moreton Bay, north of Brisbane, are still selling for $600,000, including at Deception Bay (pictured)
Deception Bay, 46km north of the city, has a median house price of $647,981, following a 12.7 per cent increase during the past year
Deception Bay, 46km north of the city, has a median house price of $647,981, following a 12.7 per cent increase during the past year.
Bellara, a suburb of Bribie Island a bit further north of Moreton Bay, has a median house price of $640,273, in an area overlooking the Pumicestone channel.
House prices here have risen by a more moderate 5.3 per cent over the past year.
The surf beach is only a short drive away on the eastern side of the island.
For those wanting to be a bit closer to the city Darra, 18km south-west of Brisbane, has a mid-point house price of $687,219, following a 15.7 per cent increase during the past year.
City centre units have a median price of $633,304, following a 16.3 per cent annual increase.
Melbourne
Melbourne's median house price of $942,750 is beyond the reach of a single-income earner on an average salary, even though price rose by a lesser 4.3 per cent over the year.
But Frankston North, 48km south-east of the city, has a median house price of $596,163, following an annual increase of just 3.3 per cent over the past year.
Frankston North, 48km south-east of the city, has a median house price of $596,163, following an annual increase of just 3.3 per cent over the past year.
It is significantly cheaper than neighbouring Frankston's $736,385, which is right on Port Phillip Bay.
For those wanting to live closer to the city Broadmeadows, 22km north of Melbourne, has a median price of $571,110, following a 0.3 per cent fall during the past year.
Melbourne also offers apartments near the city and the water at an affordable price, with St Kilda West having a median price of $608,792, which prices remaining flat over the year.
It is only an 8km tram ride from the city.
Could interest rates rise again?
The Reserve Bank in February left the cash rate on hold at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.
Inflation last last year moderated to a two-year low of 4.1 per cent but the consumer price index was still well above the RBA's 2 to 3 per cent target.
But the minutes of that board meeting on February 5 and 6, released on Tuesday, explained why Governor Michele Bullock had to leave open the possibility of another rate rise.
'In light of these conclusions, members agreed that it was important for the board's public statement to make clear that inflation had moderated but was still high, and that it was not yet possible to rule in or out further increases in interest rates,' the minutes said.
'Members also agreed on the importance of highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook and the need for monetary policy to be driven by developments in relevant data, the outlook for the economy and the evolving risks.'
The RBA raised rates in November for the 13th time in 18 months, marking the most aggressive pace of monetary policy tightening since 1989.
But house prices rose by double-digit figures after net overseas migration hit a record-high of 518,000 in 2022-23.