Why buyers are fearful of Sydney's housing market right now
Sydney's rising house prices have long been a thorn in the side of prospective buyers, given that the most expensive in the country has experienced sustained growth over the past 25 years.
A new Domain report suggests that trend is set to continue, with the median house price in Sydney forecast to rise by 7 per cent in the 2025-26 financial year.
The record-high $1.83 million median price tag is inhibitive to most, considering national median earnings are $67,600, as per Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
Broderick Wright, a Western Sydney real estate agent who shows homes in Oatlands and Parramatta, said lower interest rates, strong demand, and a limited supply of homes were fuelling price rises.
"We're finding now that buyers are having to become savvy in what they buy in terms of compromise," he said.
"They're happy to make a compromise and just try and get in, whether that means they move suburbs or move further afield in terms of away from the CBD."
The ABC went to three open homes in Sydney's west to see how people trying to enter the property market are really feeling.
Kathryn McCorkindale is a young mother of two who is trying to find more room for her growing family.
"I have an apartment nearby, two bedrooms and two small kids, and at some point we'll need to upsize, but it's tricky," she said while looking at a property in Parramatta.
"It's frankly terrifying, and I feel really angry about the state of housing in Sydney."
Ms McCorkindale, who is an architect, believes the solution lies in planning and density.
"I think successive governments have given lip service to show that … they want to appear like they're doing something, but they're not actually doing anything.
"People are going into a lot of debt trying to make the dream happen; you wonder if staying put is the better option."
Kim Lam is in her early 30s and has been looking for a home for more than six months.
"It's difficult — anyone who's a first-home buyer with interest rates coming down, it's great, but then you know there'll be a surge in housing prices," she told ABC while viewing a Parramatta apartment.
Ms Lam believes the government incentives to help first-home buyers are good but not effective for buyers like herself.
"I tend to fall just outside the people who benefit from any of these incentives. Every year it just gets more difficult.
"It must be working, otherwise there would be an uproar of some sort," she said.
"People sitting in my kind of bracket, it's still kind of difficult to go at it by myself, and you don't have bank of mum and dad to assist you."
Despite renting and living in Leichhardt, Warrwick Smith fought rush hour traffic to check out homes in Parramatta.
He's looking for a two-or three-bedroom place with two bathrooms but does not believe he will find anything under $2 million.
Mr Smith has found himself disappointed with the market pushing more people towards higher-density housing.
Pointing at Parramatta's nearby CBD, he said: "My concept of a home has a little to [do] with this Hong Kong style of this place.
"It is the stacking up of humanity, which I don't think bears much scrutiny unless you enjoy that sort of lifestyle, and I'm afraid I don't."
He is inspecting a heritage-listed home, which means there will be limits on what he can change about the property if he buys it.
While he has owned many properties over the years — and therefore is not severely impacted by the increasingly difficult market — he does fear for the future generations.
He said he would not mind if house prices came down.
"I'd be perfectly happy about that, because it won't all come down together."
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