The one suburb within 15 kilometres of Sydney's CBD with a median house price under $1 million

Soaring house prices across Sydney have left just one suburb within a 15-kilometre drive of the central business district with a median house price below $1 million. 

The quiet suburb of Belfield, wedged between South Strathfield and Campsie, is currently the only suburb within that distance not in the million-dollar club, recording a median house price of $900,000 in the six months to September, according to Domain Group data.

While Sydney’s median house price is now at a record  $1,068,303, a 2.1 per cent increase since last year, the Canterbury-Bankstown suburb’s median has fallen 18.2 per cent over the same period, making it an attractive option for priced-out buyers from the inner west.

Domain Group’s chief economist Dr Andrew Wilson noted the median price in the small suburb, which has still seen a 29.5 per cent median house price increase over five years, may have been affected by lower sale volumes over the period. 

“Having said that there’s no doubt that Canterbury-Bankstown was a weaker part of the market earlier this year,” he said. “It had very strong growth in the last year or two, so the declining affordability did push people out of the area, the market has eased off the back of that.

“However, it is recovering and we’ve seen clearance rates improving. We should see price growth start again soon…and I believe we may see Belfield moving towards the million-dollar mark next year…thanks to its established infrastructure and amenities, but also its proximity to the CBD.”

​Simon Smajo Hadzic of Elders Inner West said there was strong demand for properties in Belfield – just under a 15 kilometre drive south-west of the CBD via the City West Link – which offered a more affordable entry point than the neighbouring suburbs of Croydon Park ($1.25 million) and Campsie ($1.25 million) and a significantly cheaper alternative to nearby Strathfield ($2.4 million) and Burwood ($2 million). 

“A lot of the buyers we’re seeing have been wanting to buy in Croydon Park and South Strathfield, Belfield is just a few hundred metres away from those suburbs and as those areas get more expensive, more people are making the move here as they can get good size blocks of land, in a central location, with good public transport,” he said. “And they can still access the good shopping in the area, public and private schools and plenty of parks.”

While Belfield may be the closest suburb to the city that’s under $1 million, it ranked worse than suburbs slightly further afield in Domain’s Liveable Sydney 2016 study conducted this year. 

Belfield, which ranked 422nd out of 555 suburbs, placed behind Macquarie Park (87), Marsfield (94), Rydalmere (170), Roselands (343), Lakemba (358), Wiley Park (395) and Greenacre (415), which all have a median house price under $1 million and are within a 20 kilometre drive of the CBD.

While the suburb ranked well for telecommunications coverage, buses and schools, one if its biggest let-downs was cafes, restaurants and shops.

“That’s changing,” said Mint Property Agents director Peter Spathis, who noted that the suburb’s tired shopping and dining strip was set to be revitalised by mixed-use developments offering apartment and retail space along Burwood Road.

“The majority of the older shops have been sold, over time once all the development applications are processed and approved we’ll have a strip of brand new dwellings and homes,” he said. 

“We’ve already seen the cafe culture come into the area…and we’re about to get our own wine bar.” 

Local resident Liza Papaloizou will be opening up Brick Lane N12, a cafe by day and wine bar at night, before the end of the month, which she hopes will help give the suburb a much needed face lift.

“There’s nothing else around here like that and that’s what a lot of locals are missing out on,” she said. 

“I think people do overlook (Belfield), but once people start seeing that more shops and restaurants are coming up I think more people will want to live here. In the next five years Belfield is going to be completely different, it’s going to be completely alive.”

Spathis said he felt the suburb, still dominated by houses, would continue to become increasingly popular with residents from inner west suburbs such as Marrickville ($1.3 million median house price), Newtown ($1.3 million) and Dulwich Hill ($1.28 million), who were looking to get more bang for their buck.

“Belfield may be in Canterbury-Bankstown, but it’s latched on to more of an inner-west market,” he noted.

“We get a lot of families looking to upgrade from a unit to a house. But we also get people who are selling up their terraces, getting $1.5-$1.8 million, and then buying here for cheaper, getting bigger blocks and saving the leftover money.”