Sydney’s housing market ranked the second least affordable in the world, report reveals - realestate.com.au (2024)

FAQs

Where does Sydney rank in housing affordability? ›

A global report rating middle income housing affordability has ranked Sydney 93rd out of 94 metropolitan markets. The Demographia International Housing Affordability report for 2023 was released on Monday, with Sydney ranking just ahead of the world's least affordable nation Hong Kong.

According to the 2023 International Housing Affordability Survey by Demographia, three out of the 10 least affordable housing markets are in Australia and New Zealand, two are in Canada and four more are located in the United States. The least affordable housing market is Hong Kong.

Supply and demand imbalance

One of the primary reasons for high house prices in Australia is the imbalance between supply and demand. Housing supply is under ongoing strain due to an increasing population and a limited land supply, particularly in large cities like Melbourne and Sydney.

Sydney has been ranked as the world's 10th most expensive city, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report, thanks to the price of groceries, rent and everyday services, ranking equally with Copenhagen.

Sydney named second-most expensive place in the world to buy a home, according to report.

Switzerland. Unsurprisingly, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries to live in. The country's cost of living index was ranked the highest in the world in 2020 at 122.4. For comparison, notoriously costly New York City has a cost-of-living index of 100.

Sydney ranked behind Hong Kong which took the place as the least affordable city in the world, with Vancouver in third place.

To no major surprise, Los Angeles was found to be the least affordable. Two other California cities – Bakersfield and Modesto – found themselves among the top 10 least affordable cities in the U.S. Three Texas cities made the list as well.

Sydney was named the most unaffordable market to enter in Australia and was observed to be more expensive than New York, London, and Singapore, according to a report by Yahoo Finance.

Where are Sydney house prices dropping? ›

The largest unit discount was in the Ryde region at 7.7 per cent, up from 5.1 per cent. Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said the high levels of discounting correlated with some of the largest price declines.

A purchase at the same price would have required an income of about $178,000 a year ago when interest rates were at record lows. Under current rates, the income requirement is about $238,000. The average gross income of households in NSW was about $126,000 a year, according to the latest ABS study.

According to worldpopulationreview.com, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, with its housing costing three times the national average. New York and California rank as the second and third most expensive states in which to live, respectively.

Hawaii and California are the LEAST affordable places to live in the U.S as incomes fail to keep up with soaring property prices.

Those cities include Los Angeles, which ranks at the top as the least affordable, while other cities like Hartford, Connecticut and Corpus Christi, Texas also outrank New York.

The overall cost of living in Australia is 9% higher than the USA, but 10% cheaper than London.

Dover Heights is an affluent neighbourhood that hugs the top of the cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea, meanwhile, Vaucluse is known for being an incredibly affluent area with peninsular and harbour views unlike any other. The entire suburb is home to some of Sydney's highest property prices and largest pay packets.

As a breakdown of the 2022 index results, Sydney came third overall in its size category for quality of life, behind only table-topper Washington and third-placed San Francisco. Melbourne was only one point behind in the same measure, improving its score by six points.

Coastal Location: Like Sydney, San Francisco is situated on the coast, offering beautiful waterfront views and a maritime atmosphere.

How much do you need to live comfortably in Sydney? ›

All the cities on this graphic are classified as severely unaffordable⁠—and, for the 12th year in a row, Hong Kong takes the top spot as the world's most unaffordable housing market, with a score of 23.2.

1. Sweden. Sweden is the top country in 2022 best quality of life rankings. The country stands out in the ranking of quality of life for health systems and well-developed public education, security, economic stability, and politics.

Singapore and New York City tied for the first rank amongst the world's most expensive cities in 2022, pushing Israel's Tel Aviv from the first place in 2021 to the third place in 2022.

In general, the most expensive areas to live were Hawaii, Alaska, the Northeast, and the West Coast. The least expensive areas were the Midwest and Southern states. MERIC derives the cost of living index for each state by averaging the indices of participating cities and metropolitan areas in that state.

The state's now home to the least affordable places to live in the U.S., according to multiple studies covering rental costs, home prices and income. Rent.com reported Tampa's average rent for a one-bedroom apartment was $1,682, up 32.4% since the year before. In St. Petersburg, it's $1,890 or 19.6% higher than 2021.

Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in in the United States. With a cost of living index of 193.3, the cost of living in Hawaii is almost twice the national average. Hawaii has the highest costs across all indexes, except healthcare.

Is it more expensive to live in LA or Sydney? ›

Cost of living in Sydney (Australia) is 18% cheaper than in Los Angeles, California (United States) How much money will you need in Sydney? Find out with your own Salary Calculation. This comparison is based on abundant and consistent data.

Finder has also reported that the most expensive place for housing in Australia is Sydney. To put in perspective, it is 48.1 per cent higher than the cost of Adelaide which is the most affordable capital city to live in. Sydney's also the most expensive major city for housing and utilities.

New York City is 44% more expensive than Sydney.

Losing value

Highett and Chelsea in the inner south fell by more than 21 per cent while Somers and St Andrews Beach on the Mornington Peninsula dropped by about 20 per cent.

By 2024, the bank is expecting house prices to gain 5 per cent in both Sydney and Melbourne, that prices should rise 6 per cent in Brisbane, by 8 per cent in Perth, and that there should be a 5 per cent gain nationwide.

Sure the value of many Sydney properties fell as it led to the property downturn of 2022, but this was after recording a 27.7% rise in housing values between October 2020 and January 2022, and now Sydney home values are down -13.8% since peaking.

So what is the average mortgage? At the end of 2022, it was $601,797, based of lending indicators from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Typically you need to be a permanent resident or citizen to buy property in Australia and many of the available home loans also require you to be Aussie. But don't fret, foreigners can still buy: the property needs to be categorised as an investment and you need to get government approval.

Prospective buyers should bring in more than $100K per year before considering a home in the $800K range. Home pricing is tricky business.

1. Hawaii. Hawaii is known for its beautiful beaches, warm climate, and breathtaking scenery. However, it is also the most expensive state to buy a house, with a Zillow Home Value Index of $834,582.

What state has the most house for the money? ›

Rather, Alabama is the most affordable state to retire in, according to WalletHub's “2023 Best States to Retire.” The analysis compared all 50 states across three key categories: health care, quality of life and affordability.

Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, with a cost of living index of 184. Massachusetts is ranked second, with a cost of living index of 149.7, followed by California at 137.6, and New York at 134.5.

The three cheapest states to move to in terms of housing costs are: West Virginia, with an average price of $123,000; Mississippi, with an average price of $125,000; and Arkansas, with an average house price of 133,600. You can view the 10 cheapest states to move to below.

The Demographia International Housing Affordability report for 2023 was released on Monday, with Sydney ranking just ahead of the world's least affordable nation Hong Kong.

The most populous country in the world is China (population 1.44 billion). As one might expect, China also has the largest number of houses (roughly 658 million). At the other end of the scale, small countries like Bermuda and Liechtenstein also have the smallest number of houses (28,314 and 16,700, respectively).

According to the report, Bermuda is the world's most expensive place to live.

The least affordable was Miami, where the median-priced home costs $598,000 and would require a monthly payment of $3,183 to cover mortgage and taxes — more than 85 percent of the local median household income of $44,581 (or $3,715 a month). Los Angeles and New York followed — no surprise given their steep home prices.

What country has the safest houses? ›

Austria has the best housing system.

Its capital and most popular city, Vienna, holds one of the world's strongest social housing portfolios and systems.

1. The One, Los Angeles, California | Most Expensive Houses. The One, which took eight years to create, has surpassed all other pricey mansions in the US to claim the top rank.

The most expensive state to move to in 2023 is Hawai'i, with an average home price of $636,400. Following up is Washington DC, with an average house price of $618,100. In third place is California, with an average house price of $538,000. That's an extreme difference between Arkansas and California.

Hawaii and California are the LEAST affordable places to live in the U.S as incomes fail to keep up with soaring property prices.