While house prices have dropped in some parts of Australia, overall affordability is still out of reach for many. Compare the Market crunched the numbers for the most common occupations in Australia to see how many capital city suburbs were affordable for each job, based on median house prices and average annual incomes.

The job with the highest number of suburbs the average salary could afford was Construction Managers. At a median income of $195,052 per year, Construction Managers could afford the average house in 1,494 suburbs across Australia’s capitals.

The next best job for housing affordability was ICT Manager, with 1,042 capital city locations within their income’s price range, based on a median salary of $172,120.

University Lecturers earning the median salary of $152,048 had the third-highest number of affordable suburbs, covering 696 capital suburbs.

Best common occupations for housing affordability in Australia’s capitals

There were a number of jobs that didn’t have any capital suburbs where the monthly repayments would cost less than 30% of someone’s monthly income. Those jobs were:

• Café and restaurant managers
• Forklift drivers
• Hairdressers
• Packers
• Payroll clerks
• Sports coaches, instructors and officials

Compare the Market’s Stephen Zeller, General Manager of Money, says this analysis reveals the scale of the uphill battle prospective homeowners face if they want to buy a house.

“It can be so demoralising for anyone wanting to live in our major capitals, with those who can’t afford to buy a home faced with renting (which is another kettle of fish), moving back in with parents, or moving out further away and facing long commutes to get to work.

“The Australian Dream feels like an impossible goal for many new entrants to the housing market, but it’s an issue with no simple fix. There are multiple issues facing the Australian Government’s efforts to increase housing affordability, such as supply, building costs, and demand continuing to grow and outpace what’s available.”

To get more info and analysis on occupations and affordable suburbs, visit: https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/home-loans/features/jobs-that-can-afford-the-australian-dream/.

^Methodology:

^{Average annual income was sourced for the top 71 jobs in terms of the number of employed Australians, based on median weekly earnings. Median weekly earnings were multiplied by 52 to calculate median annual earnings, then divided by 12 to calculate monthly earnings. This figure was then multiplied by 0.3 to calculate 30% of monthly income.}

^{The median property value for each suburb was multiplied by 0.2 to calculate a 20% deposit against this median value. The deposit was then subtracted from the median property value, providing the median loan size. This loan size was then used to produce a monthly repayment for that suburb’s median property value, based on a 30-year loan at a 6.17% interest rate.}

^{If the suburb’s median monthly repayment was lower than 30% of the monthly income of an occupation, then it was listed as affordable for that occupation based on its median salary. If the repayment was higher than 30% of the occupation’s monthly income, then it was listed as unaffordable for that occupation.}

^{Each occupation then had a tally of how many suburbs were listed as affordable across all Australian capital city regions. In the case of Canberra, the entire Australian Capital Territory was included due to its size.} 

^Sources:

^{Occupation and income averages – Jobs and Skills Australia.}

^{Median house prices by suburb – Cotality}

For interviews and more information, please contact:

James McCay | +61 450 930 374 | [email protected]   

^{Compare the Market is a comparison service that takes the hard work out of shopping around. We make it Simples for Australians to quickly and easily compare and buy insurance, energy, and home loans products from a range of providers. Our easy-to-use comparison tool helps you look for a range of products that may suit your needs and benefit your back pocket.}