Sydney’s housing is now officially more expensive than New York and London
Sydney is the sixth most expensive city in the world in terms of housing, beating New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles, a new report said.
The Sydney commission’s report, released this week, claims that the city’s housing crisis has reached seriously damaging levels. She says it costs the city $10 billion a year in lost talent, productivity and innovation.
Amazingly, an average house in Sydney costs more than 13 times the average salary.
Housing is more than just a short-term crisis: housing is a chronic problem for Sydney and poses a serious long-term threat to the city if nothing is done, says the committee’s CEO, Eamon Waterford.
Mr Waterford said the cost is felt most by young Sydneysiders early in their careers, putting “a handbrake” on opportunities that would have been open to them if housing had been more accessible and affordable.
Sydneysiders are battling one of the toughest housing markets in the world, a new report finds (Photo: A queue at a recent rent inspection)
Sydney is the sixth most expensive city in the world to rent or buy a home
“Unless we take urgent and sustainable action, chronic housing unaffordability will continue to erode Sydney’s competitive position on the global stage and our city’s long-term economic success,” he said.
The think tank said young people were leaving the city en masse for cheaper locations or were less productive because they could not finance suitable housing near their work.
The report identified $1.5 billion in lost talent due to emigration and reduced attractiveness, in addition to $6.8 billion in lost productivity and $2.9 billion in reduced innovation, including fewer patents and start-ups.
Rent availability and affordability are also at crisis levels, with 35.3 per cent of tenant households in Sydney experiencing rent stress, meaning they pay more than 30 per cent of monthly income in housing costs.
The report recommended three key measures to solve the problem, starting with the introduction of an inclusive destination goal, to provide affordable housing in new developments across all redevelopments.
Huge lines of Sydneysiders have recently lined up to inspect an apartment in Randwick
It also advised the government to invest in building much more social and affordable housing, and to significantly increase the supply of quality housing, with good access to transport, open spaces, schools, childcare, shops and other services.
“We can’t fix this overnight, but we can commit to the bold, courageous long-term program needed to put Sydney’s chronic housing crisis into remission,” said Mr Waterford.
Sydney is in quite a large business, with Hong Kong (pictured) being the most expensive
San Francisco is the second most expensive city in the world to rent or buy a house or apartment
Vancouver in Canada is also more expensive than Sydney at number four on the list
The Greens are seizing the analysis that shows most investors prefer existing homes over new construction to advocate for housing reform.
More than 80 percent of investor funding between 2019 and 2023 went to the purchase of existing homes, with the remainder going to the construction and purchase of new homes, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, reviewed by the Parliamentary Library.
The small party firmly opposes the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, seeking to squeeze more money for social housing from the budget and push for rent reform.
Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather also maintains his call for a rent freeze as a sticking point in government negotiations, something state and territory governments have ruled out.
The government and economists have rejected the proposed rent freeze, saying it would affect supply by driving investors out of the market.
Mr Chandler-Mather said the fact that such a small proportion of investment went into boosting supply means the government’s argument over supply does not hold water.
“The bottom line is that if we want to tackle this housing crisis, we have to freeze and limit rent increases,” he said.
The Greens also want to phase out negative gearing and reduce capital gains tax breaks.