Read the Sydney Morning Herald article The type of Sydney home that disappeared in two decades by Dan Stapleton, 9.5.26 HERE

FOKE Summary

Once Sydney had plenty of $500,000 houses available for purchase. They are now gone. Data reveals a trend for house prices continue to increase. Sydney is now an unaffordable city.

It was once possible twenty years ago to buy a median-priced house for $459,000. Today the ‘cheapest’ house costs more than that.

Affordable units have also disappeared. In 2006, a median-priced Sydney unit cost around $372,000. Today there are only 2% available at this amount according to the major global property data provider Cotality.

Nor are there any houses in the $670,000 range; or units in the $484,000 range.

Pockets for affordable housing appear to be located in Liverpool and Blacktown. Unit prices in Warwick Farm tend are around$488,000 and in Mount Druitt around $514,000.


The trend for the past 20 years has been increasing housing and unit prices. Wage growth over the past 20 years has not kept up with housing prices. Affordable housing has been consistently reduced.

Factors fuelling property price growth in Sydney since the mid -2000s include:

• population growth
• Foreign investment in housing
• Declining interest rates from the mid-2000s to mid-2010s
• NSW planning rules
• Limited space due to Sydney geography – national parks, ocean, rivers
• Wages have not kept up with house prices

Prospective buyers are under increasingly financial pressure to afford a home. It is also becoming harder to save for a deposit. A much bigger proportion of salaries is now going towards a mortgage.

Around 2010 it was still possible for first home buyers to buy a home in Sydney including suburbs in the Hills, Inner West and even the North Shore. Now it is near impossible. People are now looking at Wollongong and the Central Coast for a home.

Read full SMH article HERE