Revealed: The shocking income you need to buy a house in Australia
Despite sky-high house prices, many Aussies can't let go of the dream of owning a home one day – even if it's just a shoebox with good natural light. The unfortunate news is that aspiring home buyers in almost every capital city now need to earn almost double what they did in pre-pandemic times to afford a house.
In March this year, the ABS revealed that the average price of residential dwellings in Australia passed $1 million for the first time ever. Eeek! If you're still holding onto hope, a new Canstar analysis has unveiled the minimum annual salary you need to comfortably buy a median-priced house (defined as spending less than a third of your household income on mortgage repayments).
As expected, Sydneysiders top the list when it comes to the income required to buy a home. With the city's median price jumping from $950,000 in 2020 to a whopping $1,460,000 in 2025, purchasing a house is now only realistic for those earning a gross household income of $272,737. That's $150,000 more pay than you would have needed five years ago (gulp).
The Sunshine State follows close behind, with Queenslanders now needing to earn around $100,000 more a year than they did before the pandemic to afford a typical home. The study reveals that to buy a median-priced house ($920,000) in Brisbane, you'd need an annual income of $171,862 – a huge jump from $72,628 back in 2020.
Like Queensland, Melbourne buyers now need to earn nearly $100,000 more per year – bringing the total to $160,000 – to comfortably afford the same home they could have snapped up in 2020. The median-priced house has climbed $61,000 in the past five years to $855,000.
Sorry, South Australia – you'll need to have boosted your income by $90,000 over the past five years to comfortably afford loan repayments on a house. Even our two smallest states, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, aren't immune, with the income needed to buy almost doubling in both.
Rather than buying property, how about taking a holiday instead (to cheer you up)? Here are our favourite places to go.
The gross income needed to buy a house in Australia:
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU:
👧🏻
🌳 The 10 Aussie regional hotspots everyone wants to move to in 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Millions of drivers hit by car insurance price hike - and the state that's copped it the worst
Millions of motorists have been slugged with higher car insurance with drivers forced to pay an extra $225 in one state. Car insurance premiums are rising at more than double the rate of inflation in a worrying sign the cost of living crisis is still a problem. Overall headline inflation moderated to 2.4 per cent in April, but a Canstar comparison of 67,000 quotes across 43 providers found average premiums have this year increased by 5.8 per cent. The typical motorist has seen a $122 increase this year, taking average annual car insurance premiums to $2,226, up from $2,104. But Victorians were the worst off, with their premiums rising by a whopping 8.3 per cent or $225 to $2,940. NSW motorists paid the second highest premiums of $2,570, following a 5.8 per cent or $140 increase. The Northern Territory was in third place for expensive car insurance ($2,283) followed by Western Australia ($2,032), Queensland ($2,010), South Australia ($1,970) and Tasmania ($1,785). Drivers over 50, who are less likely to take risks on the road, suffered a 6.5 per cent increase, equating to a $77 jump to $1,260. But men under 25 paid the highest average premium of $3,020, following an annual increase of $162 or 5.7 per cent. Women under 25 also had an above-average increase of 6.1 per cent, amounting to $156 a year to a typical premium of $2,706. Canstar's data insights director Sally Tindall said car insurance increases were a big drain on household budgets, even if the latest increases were much more moderate than the 30.5 per cent increases of 2024. 'A lot lower but there are still rises on top of rises which makes it incredibly difficult for people who are cash strapped to pay their premiums when those notices come through,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Natural disasters, like the recent flooding on the NSW mid-north coast, are also putting pressure on car insurance premiums. 'You can see some big claim events - they always can add to the cost of insurances,' Ms Tindall said. Ms Tindall noted ROLLiN Insurance offered discounts of 15 per cent to younger drivers if they were prepared to install an app on their smartphone to monitor their behaviour on the road. 'They have a what's called "telematics insurance" where you download - you can opt to do this - a black box, which is basically your mobile phone,' she said. 'You download their app and you have that app running every time that you drive and they can measure things like braking speed and acceleration power and the number of times you touch your phone and then they can give you a monthly score as to how safe a driver you are. 'If you're in a high-risk category but you know that you're an incredibly safe driver, options like this might be worth exploring.' The best way to get a better deal is to switch with Canstar research showing drivers taking out a new policy can save $692 by switching to one of the cheapest products, from either ROLLiN Insurance, Bingle, Budget Direct, ING or Virgin Money. 'That's an average saving – those who have copped price hikes from their insurer for years could stand to save even more,' Ms Tindall said. 'When shopping around for insurance, price is important, however, it's not necessarily about getting the lowest price policy in town. 'You want to be looking for value for money, that is, a decent level of cover at a competitive price.'
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Popular chair sold at Fantastic Furniture nationwide is urgently recalled over 'injury' fears
A popular chair sold at Fantastic Furniture is being urgently recalled over fears the legs could break if someone sits on it. The Dimi dining chair in both black and white has been sold nationally and online between June 2019 and May this year. Aussies who own the chair have been urged to stop using it immediately and return it to Fantastic Furniture for a full refund or exchange. 'The chair legs may break during use due to a manufacturing defect,' a notice stated. 'There is a risk of injury if the chair legs break during use. Incidents have occurred.' Consumers can email dimichair@ for more information.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Daily Mail
Services Australia: Millions of Aussies on social services payments set for cash boost
Millions of Aussies receiving social services payments are set to pocket more money. From July 1, Services Australia payments will be indexed (adjusted in line with inflation) by 2.4 per cent. Paid Parental Leave, Family Tax Benefit A and B, the Newborn Supplement, and Multiple Birth Allowance will all receive a modest increase, affecting about 2.4million Australians. For example, a family receiving Family Tax Benefit A will pocket an extra $5 a fortnight. Parents with triplets will receive an extra $120 a year, while first-time parents of a newborn child will pocket an additional $48 over 13 weeks. Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek described indexation as a 'crucial way to help families when cost of living rises'. 'Millions of recipients of social security payments will see more money in their bank account,' Plibersek said. However, asset limits and income thresholds will also increase by 2.4 per cent. That means some Aussies will become ineligible for JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Austudy, ABSTUDY Living Allowance, Parenting Payment, Special Benefit and Parenting Payment Single. The July indexation will not impact youth and student payments, which are indexed each year in January.
