Average weekly pay gaps of $525 to $660 are putting women behind men when it comes to buying homes in several Melbourne suburbs.
Women are up to $27,000 worse off when buying a home in a host of Melbourne suburbs due to the gender pay gap.
New research shows areas in the city’s outer west and south east, plus affluent bayside, dominate the list where solo female buyers on an average wage are most disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts.
There’s also fears the difference in earnings is helping to fuel the housing crisis as homelessness among women skyrockets.
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A report from the property and homeownership education and consulting company Stop Renting Australia shows a $525 to $660 weekly difference in women’s’ typical weekly wages compared to mens’ in locations such as Point Cook, Eynesbury, Mt Eliza, Manor Lakes and Brighton.
Women wanting to purchase a home in such areas face the challenge of competing with male buyers who can finance higher mortgage repayments as well as access a larger loan.
The study examined Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data for income disparities in the nation’s suburbs, excluding areas with less than 200 residents of either gender.
In Victoria’s most prominent pay gap suburbs, high male salaries in professional, managerial and business ownership roles drove men’s earnings to sharply outstrip women’s.
According to PropTrack, median house prices across these areas range from $650,000 in Manor Lakes to $3.25m in Brighton.
This Manor Lakes house is for sale with a $640,000-$670,000 asking range. The suburb’s median house price is $650,000, making it the most affordable on the list of Melbourne’s worst pay gap areas.
National Council of Women Victoria executive member Robyn Byrne says 250,000 Australians are on waiting lists for social housing, most of them women and children.
Stop Renting Australia founder Shawn Waugh said substantial men’s salaries in places like Point Cook and Brighton set the tone for what buyers could borrow.
In the two suburbs, women are respectively taking home $27,000 and $23,742 less than men each year.
“Women are earning less on average, even in dual-income households which impacts their ability to buy independently,” Mr Waugh said.
ABS figures show Australia’s full-time adult average weekly wage was $2106.40 for men and $1864.10 for women, as of May 2025.
Women typically earn 11.5 per cent less than men, equating to $12,600 yearly.
Suburbs in Melbourne’s outer west and southeast feature heavily in the list of areas in the city where the gender pay gap is largest.
Gender Equity Victoria chief executive Micaela Drieberg said there were many reasons women were typically paid less than men.
But major factors include caregiving responsibilities, career breaks and family violence.
“These are some of the drivers behind where we’re seeing lower earning rates for women, which then lead to greater barriers to being able to secure home loans or what is needed to be able to secure a home,” Ms Drieberg said.
She said women of all ages were over-represented in homelessness.
“Women over 55 are actually the fastest growing homeless group which is startling and scary, and indicates that women are at a certain point in their life where they’re starting over,” Ms Drieberg said.
“That generation might have come from more of a traditional background and focused on caregiving during a time where they stepped away from their careers.”
According to the ABS, the gender pay gap in Victoria is 11.1 per cent, compared to 11.5 per cent Australia-wide.
This means some women in the age bracket have a lack of savings and superannuation when they reach retirement age.
Ms Drieberg said there was no single fix for the issue but young girls’ early education and career choices should be broadly considered as to how they would impact their futures.
She also said that looking at how future housing could be designed to align with changing population demographic shifts, such as an increase in single homeowners, would be helpful.
National Council of Women Victoria executive member Robyn Byrne said the number of older women seeking assistance for homelessness had risen 31 per cent since 2016.
“Every day, 156 women are turned away from homelessness services in Victoria because there is no accommodation available,” Ms Byrne said.
“There are over 2200 women in Australia in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out.”
This Eynesbury house is for sale with a $749,000-$789,000 asking range. The area’s typical house value is $700,000, It’s also on the list of Victoria’s worst gender pay gap areas.
LJ Hooker Point Cook’s Natalie Newdick said the suburb in Melbourne’s outer west was Australia’s most multicultural area, based on census data which revealed its residents come from 86 different countries.
“I think with the immigration boom we’ve had a lot of professionals come to live in Melbourne,” Ms Newdick said.
“They come to the western suburbs because of affordability, but many professionals choose Point Cook because it’s seen to be the most attractive of all the neighbourhoods.”
Point Cook has a median $800,000 house price compared to medians ranging from $615,000 to $763,000 in nearby Laverton, Werribee, Hoppers Crossing and Altona Meadows.
A 2025 report from the Sydney-based Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre found homelessness is skyrocketing for Australian women, especially for older women.
Ms Newdick noted many single women buying a home wanted properties which offered safety, security and a sense of community.
“They want to feel that they’re in a neighbourhood that is going to be supportive of them, especially if they’ve got children, or if they’re going to be living on their own,” she said.
When it comes to renting, Ms Newdick said some landlords preferred two tenants with a dual income, but that her agency advocated for single female tenants.
PropTrack figures show Greater Melbourne’s median house price increased from $700,000 in 2015 to $1.012m in 2025.
“As long as they can show that they’ve got a positive rental history and they can prove that they can afford the rent, we do everything we can to try and accommodate women,” she said.
And when renters of either gender fall on tough times, her colleagues sometimes refer them to relevant services for assistance with issues such as mental health.
But in some positive news, ABS data released on Friday showed the Australian gender pay gap for hourly earnings reached 8.4 per cent in May 2025 – a drop of 0.5 percentage points across two years, from 8.9 per cent in May 2023.
ABS’ head of labour statistics Sean Crick said hourly earnings were $47.90 overall, with males now earning an average of $50.20 and females $46.
For help with domestic violence, contact the Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre on 9928 9600 or see https://safesteps.org.au/contact/
Last year, Workplace Gender Equality Agency research found the financial disparity between Australian men and women’s earnings peaked at nearly $53,000 per year by the time women reached their late fifties.
MELBOURNE: WHERE WOMEN FACE BIGGEST WAGE GAP
| Areas | Difference in average weekly male and female wages |
| Point Cook – south | $663 |
| Eynesbury, Exford | $580 |
| Mt Eliza | $571 |
| Manor Lakes | $569 |
| Brighton | $565 |
| Beaumaris | $560 |
| Point Cook – east | $559 |
| Lysterfield | $540 |
| Warrandyte, Wonga Park | $533 |
| Sandringham, Black Rock | $525 |
Source: Stop Renting Australia. Figures are based on ABS census data for Statistical Area Level 2 regions.
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