48 Sydney suburbs where buying home cheaper than renting

Paying off a mortgage is now cheaper than rent in dozens of Sydney suburbs following another surge in rental prices, new analysis has revealed.

The Finder.com.au data showed there were now 48 suburbs across Greater Sydney where owning a unit was cheaper each week than renting one.

Many were inner city markets where a surge of student arrivals from overseas has created an extreme rental shortage without there being an equivalent rise in home buyer demand.

Conditions were similar in the suburbs near the Parramatta CBD, where an influx of renters – many new migrants or locals fleeing pricey inner areas – has swallowed up available rentals.

There were an additional 17 suburbs in regional NSW where repayments on a median-priced unit bought with an 80 per cent loan at typical interest rates would be cheaper than market rent.

These suburbs accounted for about 12 per cent of NSW’s unit markets, according to the Finder analysis of PropTrack median rents and home prices.

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There were no Sydney suburbs where paying off a house was cheaper than rent.

Inner-city hubs Haymarket, Chippendale and Mascot offered buyers the biggest savings: servicing a typical loan is now over $100 a week cheaper than paying rent.

Unit buyers would be between $50 and $100 better off per week than renters in Granville, Zetland, Eastgardens, Pendle Hill, Harris Park and Merrylands.

Marginal savings for buyers were also identified in Warwick Farm, Guildford, Homebush and both the Parramatta and Sydney CBDs.

The analysis focused on repayments only and did not factor in additional costs of homeownership like strata fees, council rates, repairs and insurance – all major costs.

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Experts revealed the phenomenon of repayments being cheaper than rent was more the result of rental demand than genuine property affordability.

Finder head of consumer research Graham Cook said repayments being cheaper than rent didn’t mean buying was within more people’s reach.

“For the majority of suburbs, renting remains the cheaper option,” Mr Cooke said, noting that both rents and home prices were growing beyond regular earners’ budgets.

“For most young Aussies … the dream of home ownership is being squeezed from both ends,” he said.

Mr Cooke said the upfront barriers to buying remain brutal.

“We have reached the point where the sheer cost of entry, combined with the rising cost of debt, keeps the property ladder largely out of reach for many,” he said.

“Even in the rare pockets where the maths is flipped, the calculations don’t account for the deposit you’re required to save, stamp duty and all the other fees that go into buying a home.”

PropTrack data showed Greater Sydney unit rents rose an average 7.1 per cent over the past year, with some suburbs recording 15-20 per cent rent rises.

REA Group economist Anne Flaherty Sydney rents were rising slower than a few years ago but were so high that even modest growth could result in tenants paying substantially more.

“We are likely to see rents hit new record highs in 2026,” she said.

“Vacancy rates are still quite low. And population growth is still a factor, particularly international migration.”

New migrants were more likely to rent in the first few years of arriving in Australia, she added.

“That migration story is driving demand for rentals,” she said. “At the same time you get people who, with the cost of housing, are trapped in the rental market longer than in the past.”

Mr Cooke said repayments would be markedly higher than rents for those accessing low-deposit programs such as the government’s First Home Guarantee Scheme.

The data showed slashing the deposit from 20 to 5 per cent halved the number of suburbs where buying was cheaper than renting.

SUBURBS CHEAPER TO OWN THAN RENT

Source: Finder.com.au, assumes 30-year P&O mortgage at current avg. loan rate of 5.53%, 20% deposit