Salary needed to buy average Australian home surges despite falling property prices

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced sweeping tax changes in May that have brought down home prices, without making properties more affordable. Plunging house prices since the May budget were supposed to save Aussie homebuyers — instead, a monster pay rise has become the bare minimum needed just to get the keys to an average home. New modelling has revealed the Great Australian Dream has been hijacked by relentless interest rate rises that have blown the cost of owning property out of the water, even as prices fall. Everyday workers are now facing an insurmountable wage gap, with bank serviceability tests and punishing monthly repayments requiring paychecks well beyond the household average. Ground zero for the crisis is Sydney, where hopeful buyers must now command $245,000 a year in gross income to clear mortgage stress and secure an average-price property, the Canstar data showed. > See the income you need to buy a home in NSW / Vic / Qld Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock is expected by many economists to announce one more hike. Picture: Nikki Short That’s if buying a median-priced house at current interest rates following four increases the RBA cash rate this year, which too...