Salary you need to afford home in parts of Sydney revealed

Home buyers need more money to get into the market despite prices dropping. Plunging home prices since the release of the May federal budget have failed to improve housing affordability, with home buyers needing a much better salary than last year to crack the market. New Canstar analysis of realestate.com.au figures showed buying a typical Sydney house now requires a pre-tax income of close to $250,000 a year, a nearly $11,000 rise from this time last year. Someone hoping to purchase a median priced unit with a 20 per cent deposit – no small feat at current prices – required an income of about $140,000 a year to afford the repayments, a circa $9000 rise from last year. Both increases were well above the 3.5 per cent, or $3,500, average rise in wages over the same period, with the median full-time wage currently at $108,000 a year. The figures have laid bare the brutal impact of multiple interest hikes, which have meant home buyers require higher incomes to get loans even for homes that are selling for prices well below 2025 levels. Canstar group manager of research Josh Sale said borrowing costs escalated far faster than property values adjusted downward. “Buyers are facing a doub...