It now takes nearly 30 years to own a house in Perth, but home buyers on a median income purchasing in the wealthy western suburbs would spend more than 60 years paying off their mortgage, according to new analysis.
Analysis by proptech platform HtAG Analytics found housing affordability has continued to decline in Perth.
Housing affordabilty is worsening in Perth.Credit: Western Studio Architecture
HtAG analysed the “years to own” metric – a measure of property affordability – to estimate the number of years it would take for a homebuyer to fully repay their home loan based on median home prices and family income levels.
Dalkeith is the least-affordable location for homebuyers in WA, taking 64 years to pay off a home, ahead of Quindalup, City Beach, Peppermint Grove and Cottesloe, which would all take 60 years to pay off a mortgage based on the suburb’s median household income.
It would take nearly 55 years for homebuyers to pay off their mortgage in East Perth, Mosman Park and Claremont.
Nationally, Strathfield in Sydney was the most unaffordable location to own a house in the country with home buyers forced to spend the next 144 years paying down a typical mortgage.
The most affordable suburbs in Greater Perth are concentrated on the outskirts of the metropolitan area including Seville Grove (18 years to own), Bertram and Hilbert (19 years to own), Midvale (20 years to own) and Aubin Grove (21 years to own).
Among the most affordable regions across Australia are in regional WA including Morawa (4.4 years to own) and Kambalda East in WA (5.2 years to own). The average price of a house in Morawa, located about 100 kilometres inland of Dongara, is $100,000.
HtAG Analytics co-founder Alex Fedoseev said the affordability of many suburbs has worsened in the past three years.
“Many prospective homebuyers face an overwhelming challenge when it comes to buying property in their desired area,” he said.
He said prime suburbs situated near the water or in upscale locations attract a population with well-established, generational wealth.
“In these areas, wealth often outpaces wage and income growth for the general population,” he said.
“The high demand for premium real estate from affluent residents drives up prices, making it challenging for individuals with lower or average incomes to afford houses in these neighbourhoods.”
However, he predicted the least affordable suburbs would see slower growth than more affordable areas.
“Suburbs with high years to own values are likely to experience downward pressure on house prices, as locals may struggle to afford to purchase houses as prices rise and incomes lag,” he said.
“However, there are other market variables that may still push the prices up even in low affordability markets.”
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The Perth property market has been impacted by a number of variables that have put upwards pressure on price growth including WA’s growing population, rental crisis and increasing costs and ongoing delays in the building industry.
According to REIWA, despite a dozen interest rate rises properties in Perth are selling at the fastest rate since records began in 1998, and the number of properties on the market is plunging as sales outpace new listings.
CoreLogic’s Perth home value index increased 1.3 per cent in May and 2.4 per cent over the past three months to see Perth house prices hit a record median of $672,177.
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