Reuben's place in WA. Via Getty
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Already home to the damned and peculiar, it seems the twin states of Western Australia and Queensland are now also home to the country’s most affordable homes.
That’s the conclusion of the latest deep dive out of REA Group’s data business PropTrack, which released its Affordability Hotspots Report late last week, but which I’ve only now read and might indeed encourage prospective first home buyers to get in to as well, considering how it isolates the bestest entry points into the locked and guarded Aussie housing market.
The handy document identifies the regions across the country where affordability is best for buyers.
The report is a goodie and could actually help buyers identify regions that have the most affordable homes in each city and region across the country.
According to PropTrack author Paul Ryan, the results quantify the challenging state of 
affordability across the country.
Western Australia and Queensland have emerged as Australia’s affordability havens, with just over half of all regions across the country containing homes that are affordable for those on median incomes located in these two states.
Perth had the most affordable capital city regions in the country.
Sydney remains the least affordable city in Australia with only 3.8% of home sales affordable for median income households, while 7.1% of home sales were affordable for median income households in Melbourne.
The inner-city was Melbourne’s most affordable region due to the high concentration of units, while Melton – Bacchus Marsh in the west of the city held the best affordability forthose looking to buy a house.
Brisbane’s affordability standout is Springwood – Kingston, where a median income Brisbane household can afford one in five homes. Regions in Ipswich also ranked well for affordability.
PropTrack Senior Economist and report author, Paul Ryan, says very few regions remain affordable to households earning median incomes (or lower). This highlights the role existing wealth plays in entering home ownership given the high level of prices across the country.
“It’s no secret the property market is incredibly tough right now for first home buyers and lower income households. This report has been able to isolate pockets around the country where access to the market remains relatively affordable.
“Looking across Australia, the most affordable capital city regions are located in Perth.Affordability remains a key driver of the strength in the Western Australian market, with Perth seeing the strongest price growth of any market over the past year.
“Across Western Australia, 41% of regions in the state have a significant proportion of homes affordable to those on median
incomes, which is 25% of all affordable regions across the country.
Queensland and the Northern Territory also have a larger portion of regions with more favourable affordability conditions compared to the rest of the country.
Paul says over a third of all regions where a median income household can afford 20% of home sales are located in Queensland.
Here’s a random Queenslander going for under (yes, under) $200,000:
Out in Cloncurry, QLD.
And it’s sure as hell not short of space…
“Looking across Australia, the most affordable capital city regions are located in Perth. Kwinana in the south of Perth is the most affordable capital city region, with an affordability index of 0.79.
A median income Perth household can still afford 20% of homes sold there over the past year, spending up to 25% of their pre-tax income.
According to PropTrack, affordability remains a key driver of the strength in the Western Australian market with Perth seeing the strongest price growth of any market over the past year.
“Across regional areas, outback regions top the list for affordability. While remote, these regions continue to have high accessibility for households with median incomes, with well above two thirds of homes considered affordable.
“The results from this report quantify the challenging state of housing affordability across the country. Very few regions remain affordable to households earning median incomes or lower, highlighting the role that existing wealth plays in entering home ownership given the high level of prices across the country.”
The most affordable regions in Perth are to the south of the city, where a median income Perth household can afford around one in five homes.
In regional Victoria, the North West holds promising affordability – with more than a third of homes affordable to those on median incomes in the Grampians.
One third of the nation’s affordable regions were in Queensland, with outback regions featuring some of the best affordability in the country. Regions such as Townsville have seen double-digit price growth over the past year as affordability drove demand.
Strong price growth at the bottom end of Adelaide’s market means a median income household can now afford less than one in 10 homes sold over the past year in the more affordable North region of the city.
PropTrack Affordability Hotspot Report identifies those regions across the country where affordability is best for buyers.
It uses the innovative PropTrack Housing Affordability Index, calculated for each ABS Statistical Area level 3 region, to rank the housing affordability of all parts of Australia.
The Index measures what proportion of homes sold from July 2023 to March 2024 are affordable to households across the income distribution, within their greater capital city region, when spending 25% of their pre-tax income on mortgage repayments.
While the Index score compares affordability to all other regions of Australia, the report also outlines the share of home sales that are affordable to households on a median income in a particular area.
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