Property bargains still to be found

Yesterday, RP Data identified the most affordable suburbs by distance across each Australian capital city housing market.

In Sydney, Waterloo was identified as the best suburb to buy a house, while Enmore was named the best place to buy a unit for those looking to purchase less than 5km from the city centre.

Those that were happy to look slightly further afield were told to target Granville for houses and Lakemba for units.

Commenting on the results, RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher said that with dwelling values increasing by 73 per cent over the past decade, housing affordability is a concern for many prospective home buyers.

“The most highly sought after areas of the city tend to be those which are close to the city centre as well as the most expensive in which to purchase a home. Today’s results show that if buyers chose to live close to the city centre, the dominance of affordable units within a 20km radius may provide a viable and more affordable alternative given that the cost of purchasing is often significantly lower than it is for a detached house,” Mr Kusher said.

According to RP Data, outside of city centres the value of detached houses generally becomes more affordable.

Unlike the detached house market results, the most affordable suburbs for units do not continue to get more affordable the further you move away from the city centre.

Mr Kusher said that this is often due to the fact that in some regions closer to the city, small and affordable one bedroom units often dominate the product offering.

Mr Kusher added that the city centre is typically the most mature unit market with a large number of older developments.

“New unit developments are becoming increasingly common across the middle ring suburbs now which can reflect in higher values,” he said.