Finding affordability in the Sydney market

By Rich Harvey, CEO, propertybuyer.com.au

When you are buying investment property in Australia, there are many factors you will want to take into account. The neighbourhood you buy into, the future growth of a property, even how close it is to a bus stop will all be issues to look at before you sign on the dotted line.

A buyers' agent is an essential part of working through the intimate details of a property purchase, especially when you want to buy in the higher-priced Sydney market. The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) and the Adelaide Bank have released their Housing Affordability Report for the September quarter of this year, and it shows that New South Wales market is still top in terms of real estate prices.

However, this doesn't mean you won't find the right property for your budget here in Sydney. In fact, with the right help from a professional buyers' agent, you might find some amazing investment opportunities in the NSW capital.

The Sydney median house price is now sitting around $845,000 and median unit price around $528,000.  However there are plenty of suburbs with median prices well below this level where investors can still take advantage of a rising market fuelled by low interest rates and growing population.

Many suburbs in western Sydney have average house prices around $400,000 to $500,000 and adding a granny flat for around $95,000 can deliver you a positive cashflow rental income. Suburbs closer to the CBD in Sydney's Inner West with median prices in the $700,000 to $900,000 range provide a host of opportunities to find properties ripe for renovation and equity uplift.

On the northern beaches, eastern suburbs and lower north shore, there are many apartments that would make ideal investments for SMSF's or any investor wanting a blue chip investment property for the long term.

Record levels of building waiting in the wings

According to the REIA report, paying off a loan on a Sydney property requires 4.1 per cent more of your income than the national average. What's more, the average loan size given to people buying homes here grew by 9.1 per cent in the last year.

But looking ahead to the future, there is a lot more property to hit the market yet. As Housing Industry Association Economist Geordan Murray noted when presenting the Housing Scorecard report on December 8: "WA and NSW have caught up to Victoria in terms of historically high levels of new home building activity".

This suggests high volumes might be here to stay, and may offer more affordable options for home buyers' after a great deal.

Getting in at the ground floor 

With this historically high level of home building, many people may be interested in buying an investment property in Sydney from this new pool of dwellings. One way you could do this is by working with a buyers' agent. They don't just have the negotiating skills and in-depth knowledge of real estate, they have access to properties that are yet to hit the market.

This provides you with an extremely important advantage when you're trying to find affordability in the Sydney market. To make a wise investment decision that won't break your budget, speak to the team at Property Buyer. We'll find the appropriate property for you.