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Most affordable suburbs in Australia revealed

Dec 2015 - News

Western Australia suburbs have dominated the list of most affordable suburbs within capital cities to live in, according to research by finder.com.au.

The study compared 4,675 suburbs across the country by their affordability of income remaining after mortgage repayments, based on median home prices from onthehouse.com.au, and the average incomes of households living in the surveyed areas, using Australian Tax Office income data.

Seven Western Australia suburbs made it to the top ten of the list, with Brentwood at first place for the highest average annual net income remaining after mortgage repayments of $75,398.

South Australia (with Vale Park) and Queensland (with Kenmore and Chapel Hill) were the only other states to make the top 10.

Top 10 most affordable suburbs across Australia: capital cities

Area State Median house value Annual mortgage repayments Av. after-tax income per household Income remaining
BRENTWOOD WA $827,500 $37,926 $113,324 $75,398
WILLAGEE WA $596,500 $27,339 $97,530 $70,191
COTTESLOE WA $1,842,000 $84,422 $153,834 $69,412
KENMORE QLD $618,500 $28,347 $97,619 $69,272
NORTH DANDALUP WA $336,500 $15,422 $84,167 $68,745
VALE PARK SA $612,000 $28,049 $94,868 $66,819
NORTH FREMANTLE WA $1,063,000 $48,719 $115,475 $66,756
CHAPEL HILL QLD $704,500 $32,289 $97,619 $65,330
ARDROSS WA $1,065,000 $48,811 $113,324 $64,513
WEST PERTH WA $863,500 $39,576 $102,464 $62,888

Top 10 most affordable suburbs across Australia: regional

Area State Median house value Annual mortgage repayments Av. after-tax income per household Income remaining
ST ANDREWS VIC $702,000 $32,174 $160,370 $128,196
MORANBAH QLD $276,000 $12,650 $102,812 $90,162
DAMPIER WA $602,500 $27,614 $115,641 $88,027
MILLARS WELL WA $409,500 $18,768 $105,741 $86,973
BULGARRA WA $428,000 $19,616 $105,741 $86,125
BLACKWATER QLD $224,500 $10,289 $96,327 $86,038
NICKOL WA $432,000 $19,799 $105,741 $85,942
ROXBY DOWNS SA $351,000 $16,087 $101,997 $85,910
PEGS CREEK WA $457,500 $20,968 $105,741 $84,773
DYSART QLD $267,000 $12,237 $94,821 $82,584

In regional areas, St Andrews in Victoria had the highest remaining income after mortgage repayments, at $128,196. St Andrews also had the highest median house value of the regional suburbs, the report revealed.

Australians need to factor in the ongoing costs of purchasing a home, and not just the property’s price, said Michelle Hutchison, money expert at finder.com.au.
Hutchison shared her observations on the results of the study.

“It was interesting to see a real mix of suburbs in these lists, where some suburbs were much more expensive in terms of median house prices while others were cheaper. What this shows is that in some suburbs Australians are living much more affordable lives than others, regardless of the home values.

“The main finding was that it doesn’t matter the cost of housing in an area, what matters is how much it costs you to be able to afford living there. So borrowers need to do their research and find the lowest cost home loan, use an online calculator to work out the costs involved and how much money left over they will have after paying mortgage repayments.”

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