Ray White data reveals affordable housing for first home buyers
The dream of living in a blue-chip suburb is still in reach for younger Australians if they're willing to trade in a house for a unit, fresh data from real estate titan Ray White has revealed.
While house prices remain at astronomical levels across much of the country's prime real estate, the gap in price between houses and units is wide enough in a host of up-market suburbs to make unit living affordable for first-home buyers.
In Melbourne's iconic Hawthorn South, characterised by its vast patchwork of cafes, restaurants, heritage-listed buildings and elegant park spaces, median house prices are at $2.48m, but units are priced at $560,368, a massive $1.92m difference in cost.
In Sydney's Homebush, which sits adjacent to the iconic Sydney Markets and Bicentennial Park, houses are priced at $2.24m, while units are priced at $677,393, for a $1.56m gap.
Brisbane's riverside Hamilton, adorned with swanky Queenslanders and opulent modernist structures, houses go for $2.26m while units are listed at $717,358.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee told NewsWire apartments offered Australians in their 20s and 30s a chance to live in suburbs with 'better amenity' as houses move beyond reach.
'To get an apartment, you might be closer to good retail precincts, better public transport, closer to your work,' she said.
'Also potentially to family and friends. I think this is one of the challenges a lot of younger people have.
'They may have grown up in an area but when they are looking to buy now, it's really expensive, but in some areas, there are definitely apartments available at a much more affordable price.'
Ms Conisbee added solving Australia's affordability crisis would entail a greater shift to apartment living, even as builders continue to pump out four-bedroom homes that exceed the size of many emerging families.
'Australia is very unusual globally in that we have incredibly low densities,' she said.
'If you have a look at every other major city and even much smaller cities, they do have very high levels of high densities.
'We can't provide affordable housing in areas that have incredible amenity if we stick to the big homes in the future.'
Every major city shows savings of at least $500,000 with an apartment buy over a house.
In Adelaide's Walkerville, a tree-lined inner-north suburb, houses sit at $1.6m, while units are going for $604,328, a saving of nearly a million dollars.
In Perth's beachside Mosman Park, houses are priced at $2.51m, while units are priced at $551,561, a near $2m difference.
In Darwin's Larrakeyah, houses are $1.45m while units are $440,907.
In Canberra's Reid, houses are $2.19m, while units are $617,050.
Queensland's glittery Gold Coast, however, shows a smaller gap between house and unit prices compared to other major cities.
In Southport, houses are $1.05m, while units are $637,051, for a $410,669 gap.
Regional cities in popular coastal locations also present substantial gaps between house and unit prices.
In the Sunshine Coast's Buderim suburb, which borders the Maroochydore and Mooloolaba beaches north of Brisbane, houses are priced at $1.3m, while units are going for $732,921.
In Port Douglas, a Coral Sea town in Queensland's far north that faces out to the Great Barrier Reef, houses are listed at $1.71m, while units are $490,372.
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