Property prices may have cooled off, but the average sole earner still can’t afford the repayments on a mid-priced house in every capital city, bar Perth.
Canstar analysis shows the dream of home ownership is still well out of reach for people on average incomes as rising interest rates continue to erode borrowing power.
To comfortably cover the mortgage repayments for the $769,220 median-priced house nationally, the buyer would need to earn $126,800 a year.
But the average Australian earns $92,000, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, amounting to a $35,800 difference.
In Sydney, which has the least affordable housing in the country, even two average Sydney incomes are not enough to generate borrowing power to cover monthly repayments on the average $1.2 million house.
That’s despite home prices falling 10.6 per cent in 12 months in the harbourside city, according to CoreLogic data.
Rising interest rates have taken the edge off soaring post-pandemic home prices and reduced the amount buyers can borrow, somewhat offsetting falls in price.
Nationally, the 300 basis points of policy tightening since May has cut borrowing power by $145,000 this year.
Perth is the only city where the average income has enough borrowing power to cover repayments on the median house priced at $585,989.
In Western Australia’s capital, the average in income is $100,700, $600 more than the $100,100 needed to cover repayments and still have enough to live on.
Middle-income earners in Darwin come close to affording the average house, with the average earner needing around $12,000 more a year to buy a standard home in the city.
In Melbourne, a gross annual income of $149,100 is enough for the median price of $915,005 for a house.
This is $58,100 more than the average income in Victoria’s biggest city.
The average earner in Canberra, Hobart, Adelaide and Brisbane also falls well short of the borrowing capacity needed to meet repayments in this higher interest rate environment.
Wages are going up, however, with the tight labour market putting upwards pressure on pay packets.
But high inflation is eroding these gains, with wages actually falling in real terms.
