Shock salary Aussies now need to be earning in order to afford a home: ‘This is dramatic’

Australians looking to buy a home in Sydney now need to earn $278,000 a year to purchase a property in the New South Wales capital.

The remarkable figure was revealed following an analysis of PropTrack data by Finder.com.au.

Homebuyers need to earn twice as much as they did in 2020 to purchase a median-priced home in all capital cities except Darwin and Melbourne.

That means you’ll need to earn $50,000 to $150,000 more per year to even get a foot in the door. This increase is tied to rising interest rates and rising home prices.

The data is based on the typical loan rate lenders charge after a 20 percent down payment is made on a home.

The average house price in Sydney is $1.4 million, which means a household would need to earn around $278,000 a year to pay off the loan.

That is an increase of 115 percent compared to July 2020.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show average wages rose by just 12 percent over the same period.

To enter Adelaide’s housing market, homebuyers now need to have an annual income of around $148,000. That’s a 131 per cent increase from 2020.

Buyers in Brisbane saw their homes price increase by 128 per cent compared to 2020 and now need an income of almost $166,000.

Melbourne residents need to earn an annual income of around $172,000, which is 74 per cent more than in 2020.

Graham Cooke, head of research at Finder, was alarmed by the massive changes.

“It’s no secret that housing is unaffordable, but these figures are still surprising,” Mr Cooke told the Daily telegram.

‘Unless they changed careers or their circumstances changed dramatically, few people’s incomes would have increased at a comparable rate.’

‘In many places you have to earn twice as much as you did four years ago.’

“That’s a dramatic change,” he said.

Homebuyers need to earn double what they earned in 2020 to buy a median-priced home in every capital city except Darwin and Melbourne (stock image)

He added that unless potential homeowners had a major change in circumstances or changed jobs, very few people’s incomes would have increased to meet the higher income requirement.

For apartment buyers, the huge income increase is not as drastic, with increases ranging from 50 to 75 percent.