Those looking to buy next year have been dealt another blow.
Two separate companies have forecast what house prices look set to do over the next 12 months, and worked out how much you’ll need to earn to be able to afford one.
Get ready to hit your boss up for a payrise.
Here are the shock salaries you’ll need to earn to buy in our biggest cities:
ADELAIDE
SA homebuyers could find themselves needing to earn more than $7000 extra next year in order to be able to buy a property, as runaway price growth broadens the divide between the haves and the have-nots.
SQM Research has crunched the numbers on what buyers currently need to earn to buy and applied a projected growth pattern to forecast the potential income that would be needed to buy this time next year.
Prepare to ask your boss for another $7k this year, because that’s what SQM research says you’ll need to earn. Picture: Supplied by Colliers
According to their data, households currently need to earn a combined $153,777 to buy a median-priced $793,000 home.
But it might not be as bad as SQM say, with KPMG forecasting the extra income needed might actually be much less.
MELBOURNE
Melbourne first-home buyers have been warned they’ll need to be earning as much as $7200 more next year to cope with a mortgage if they don’t buy a home in 2025.
New modelling based on figures from KPMG show that interest rate cuts anticipated this year — the next potentially as soon as Tuesday — will cause home prices to outpace wage growth in the Victorian capital.
Melbourne buyers will need to earn an extra $7200 in order to buy next year. Picture: Sarah Matray
And those hoping to buy more affordable homes are expected to face the biggest challenge.
KPMG have forecast an about $30,000 (3.5 per cent) increase in Melbourne’s $600,000 median unit price this year.Finder.com.au analysis has indicated that the income needed to make the repayments on a home loan for such a unit could rise from $116,351 in January 2025, to $123,597 by December 2026.
SYDNEY
Sydney home seekers will need a nearly $15,000 a year pay rise by the end of 2026 to keep pace with projected rises in house prices – even with multiple interest rate cuts, alarming analysis shows.
It was revealed that someone hoping to buy a median priced house in Sydney would need to earn an annual household income of $282,000 by the end of next year to afford the purchase, up from about $268,000 at the start of 2025.
Sydney homebuyers look to be the hardest hit. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
Someone buying a median priced Sydney unit would need to earn $158,000 a year by the end of 2026, an increase from the $150,000 required at the start of the year.
The Finder.com.au research analysed what homebuyers would need to earn to buy an average-priced home in Sydney if recent KPMG forecasts for the market were to eventuate.
BRISBANE
Homehunters looking to buy in Brisbane in the next year will need a $13,000 pay rise to keep up with property price growth in the lead-up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The shock modelling of forecasts from SQM Research by Finder.com.au reveals households will need to earn an annual income of $180,732 to afford an average home at the start of 2026 if prices rise at the forecast rate — that jumps to $633,000 in some suburbs.
Brisbane buyers will need to earn an extra $13,000 to buy next year, it’s predicted. Picture: Supplied
It comes hot on the heels of the Queensland Premier announcing the venue and infrastructure blueprint for the Games, with experts predicting significant price rises in surrounding suburbs such as Bowen Hills, Kelvin Grove, Herston, Fortitude Valley, and Woolloongabba.
The data reveals the current average annual household income of $167,351 would need to increase $13,381 by the start of 2026 to afford a median priced dwelling in Brisbane, with predictions of a 14 per cent rise in home prices between the start of 2025 and then.
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