The suburbs where house price affordability meets liveability: PRD report

Buying into a top suburb doesn’t come cheap, but liveable suburbs aren’t completely out of reach for those on a budget, a new report shows.

Buyers chasing both affordable and liveable neighbourhoods can look to a range of middle-ring suburbs across the country’s capital cities, the latest PRD Affordable and Liveable Property Guide, released on Thursday, shows.

The report identified suburbs to watch within 20 kilometres of the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane central business districts, and within 10 kilometres of the Hobart city centre.

Suburbs had to have relatively affordable median prices, decent rental yields, a high level of future project development – to indicate growth potential – plus low crime and unemployment rates, and proximity to amenities like schools, public transport, shopping centres, green spaces and health services.

“They’re the most affordable suburbs for [good] liveability … and bankability,” said PRD Real Estate chief economist Diaswati Mardiasmo, who stressed the focus was not on finding the city’s cheapest suburbs.

While property prices have been rising rapidly in recent months, there are still suburbs that can satisfy all the criteria for less of a premium, Dr Mardiasmo said.

Here’s where buyers should cast their gaze in each of the included cities.

Sydney

The harbour city’s affordable and liveable suburbs are concentrated in the south and south-west.

Both Peakhurst and Caringbah, more than 15 kilometres from the CBD as the crow flies, were among PRD’s picks for house hunters and unit buyers. Peakhurst is the more affordable of the two, with a median house price of $1.2 million and a unit median of $685,000, compared to Caringbah’s median of $1.375 million for houses and $701,000 for units, on PRD figures.

Jannali, 20 kilometres south of the CBD, rounded out the top three suburbs for house hunters, with a median of $1,200,500. Meanwhile, Narwee was another choice for unit buyers, offering a median of $612,500 for homes about 15 kilometres south-west of the city centre.

While these suburbs aren’t exactly cheap, they are priced at the more affordable end of the market – only 12 per cent of houses sold for less than $1 million in metro Sydney since early 2020, and only about 18 per cent of units sold for under $600,000, PRD figures show.

Melbourne

The majority of Melbourne’s affordable and liveable suburbs are within the middle-outer ring, where increased demand has been largely driven by flexible working conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, the report said.

Melburnians can look closer to the city centre for a unit than their Sydney counterparts, but prices for more affordable liveable suburbs are still on par with the Melbourne metro unit median of $630,000.

Northcote and Pascoe Vale – both about 5 kilometres from the city centre – offer unit medians of $595,000 and $630,000 respectively, while Lower Plenty, some 15 kilometres from the CBD, also comes in at a median of $530,000.

Bellfield was the closet suburb pick for houses, at 10 kilometres from the city centre, with a median of $800,000. It was followed by Mulgrave and Greenvale, at the outskirts of the 20-kilometre radius, with medians of $850,000 and $728,000, respectively.

Brisbane 

Brisbane continues to offer the most bang for buyers’ bucks, with the suburb of Warner – 19 kilometres north of the CBD – offering the lowest prices of the top picks, with a unit median of $290,000.

Other top choices are spread across the north and south of the city, with Ferny Grove (12 kilometres away), Springwood (18.8 kilometres) and Rochedale South (19 kilometres) named as the best suburbs for house hunters. The latter two have medians below $550,000.

Less than 13 per cent of house sales in Brisbane since early last year have been below the $500,000 mark, the report shows.

Coorparoo and Taigum, about 3 kilometres and 13 kilometres away, rounded out the unit selection, with median apartment prices of $422,000 and $320,000.

The middle-outer ring of Brisbane has seen an uptick in both buyer and renter demand throughout the pandemic – with rental vacancy rates at record lows – as the rise of flexible working allowed more people to move away from the city centre, and interstate migration and record low-interest rates fuelled more buyer demand, the report noted.

Hobart

Median prices in parts of Australia’s southernmost capital city have overtaken those seen in Brisbane but offer lower rental yields, which is cause for concern for both owner-occupiers and investors.

While first-home buyer volumes have been supported by government incentives and record-low interest rates, future first-home buyers will be further disadvantaged by the continued increase in property prices and lack of significant housing supply relief, the report noted.

Both house and unit buyers should look to Geilston Bay, Howrah and Kingston, which are all less than 6 kilometres from the city centre and have medians at or below $585,000 for houses and $465,000 for units.