Public concern about housing accessibility has grown in NSW after several years of rapidly rising property prices. At the end of March, the average price of a single-family home in Sydney was just under $ 1.6 million after rising 21 per cent the previous year, Domain figures show. Although some indicators suggest that prices have fallen slightly in recent months.
Grattan Institute economist Brendan Coates said Sydney’s home ownership rate has declined despite very favorable conditions for home buyers, including historically low interest rates and a number of government support programs, including the HomeBuilder program.
“Housing is so expensive that a growing number of young Sydney residents cannot afford to buy a house in their own city,” he said.
“Home ownership will continue to decline unless we fix the underlying factors why housing is so expensive in the first place. That means fixing land planning laws and reducing some of them. [housing-related] tax exemptions ”.
The proportion of Sydney residents who own their own home has fallen from 39% to 27.8% since 2001.
The census showed that the average monthly repayment of the Sydney mortgage grew by $ 327 between 2016 and 2021, despite very low interest rates during that period.
Home borrowers in the eastern suburbs statistical region had the highest average monthly mortgage repayment of $ 3298, followed by northern beaches with $ 3124.
The census also revealed large differences in income and housing types in the city. The Statistical District of the Eastern Suburbs had the highest average family income in Sydney, at $ 177,000. That’s $ 80,000 more than the average family income in the city’s southwestern statistical district that includes Liverpool, Fairfield and Bringelly ($ 96,200).
The median income for a family in Greater Sydney was $ 123,448.
There is a growing contrast in housing types in the metropolitan area. In the city and the inner southern statistical district, which includes the CBD, Redfern and Botany, almost 70% of the dwellings are an apartment or apartment while 10% are self-contained houses. However, in the statistical area of Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury only 8% of dwellings are a flat or apartment while 83.3% are detached houses.
Other statistical districts of Sydney with a large proportion of flats and apartments are the eastern suburbs (58%), the western interior (49%) and northern Sydney and Hornsby (46%).
Across Greater Sydney, 31% of households now live in one flat while 56% occupy a single-family home.
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