First home buyer assistance: where to find the most affordable suburbs in Australian cities?

Lucinda Hartley brings some first home buyer assistance to find the most affordable suburbs in Australian cities with cost-effective options.

For many Australians, homeownership feels increasingly out of reach. Rising property prices, inflation, and mortgage rates make it harder to buy a home. However, first-home buyer assistance programs, affordable housing solutions, and shared equity home ownership models can help ease the financial burden.

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How much do you need to get started?

Even in the most affordable Australian suburbs, you still need around $500,000 to get started, based on the latest typical price data for houses in major Australian Cities.  This remains a major hurdle for many aspiring homeowners. 

The trade-off for a more accessible price tag in most instances is distance. To buy a home for less than $800,000 in Greater Sydney you’ll need to head out to the Blue Mountains of Hawkesbury, around 50-60km from the CBD. Melbourne has a similar trend with the more accessible suburbs located 40-50km away including Melton, Pakenham or Werribee. 

So where can buyers find more accessible options? In this post, we explore the most affordable suburbs in each capital city, providing key insights into what you can expect to pay in the 10 most affordable suburbs within each market.

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Sydney housing costs: where can first-home buyers afford to live?

Sydney remains Australia’s least affordable housing market and has now been ranked the second most unaffordable city in the world, according to Demographia’s International Housing Affordability report.   With house prices 13.8 times the average income, the report claims Sydney is now “impossibly unaffordable”.  

The city’s sky-high prices have pushed many first-home buyers into more affordable outer suburbs. You still need approximately $700k to get a foot in the door of even the most accessible suburbs, and will need to head 50-60km out of town to the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury or Campbelltown.

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Melbourne: holding steady with pockets of affordability 

The Melbourne housing market has held steady in recent years, and grown less than other Capital Cities such as Perth and Brisbane. It remains cheaper than Sydney, with entry level houses for sale in affordable suburbs in the $500,000-$600,000 range. 

However, like Sydney, affordability comes with a distance penalty. Whether it's West to Melton or East to Pakenham, you expect a 40-50km distance from the CBD to find accessible options. 

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Brisbane first-home buyers: best suburbs for affordable homes

Brisbane continues to experience strong price growth, with entry house prices increasing by 14.8% in the past year, according to Domain’s recent First Home Buyer Report 2025. Despite this, Brisbane remains cheaper than Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide for first-home buyers.

Perth: a top choice for affordability

In Perth, there are pockets where you can enter the housing market for under half a million dollars, but prices in the Greater Perth Area have increased rapidly in recent years.  

While the lowest price tags are on the fringe in places like Kwinana, other pockets exist closer to the town including Cannington,  which is just 11km from the Perth CBD. 

Adelaide: rising tide

Adelaide has become a surprise leader in price growth, with house prices rising by 82.5% over the past five years, and exceeded Melbourne for the first time in late 2024. 

Adelaide’s rapid rise has made it also now among the world’s most unaffordable housing markets, according to Demeographia, with home prices 9.7 times the average income. 

You’ll need over $500k to get moving in Adelaide, and head North to the rapidly growing LGA of Platford. 

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Other markets: Hobart, ACT, and Darwin

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In Australia’s smaller Capital City Markets, house prices remain more accessible, however this is coupled with slower (or even negative growth). 

• Hobart: Tasmania’s capital remains highly competitive due to strong demand and limited housing stock (house prices starting from $360,000- $520,000 in outer suburbs)
• Canberra: While Canberra doesn’t have the very high priced suburbs of Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, housing still has a steep entry point, with the affordable suburbs still ranking the second highest after Sydney  (house prices starting from $665,000- $800,000 in affordable suburbs)
• Darwin: The most affordable capital city, with low prices that have held steady over the past few years. House prices in Greater Darwin (including Palmerston) start from $385,000 - $525,000)

Affordable housing and trade-offs

While there are pockets of more affordable house prices in Australia’s capital cities, this price tag also often comes with distance from the CBD, jobs, infrastructure and other amenities.  These trade-offs are important to weigh up against lifestyle needs, work commutes and priorities. 

Getting started

No matter where in the housing market you’re looking to start, saving for a deposit is the number one barrier for first home buyers. 

At Mondus Capital, we’re committed to helping first-home buyers enter the market with our shared equity model. We pay the deposit and stamp duty and finance the purchase price of the property, and in exchange we profit-share on the capital gain in the property. We’ll also leverage big data to find you the right property in suitable suburbs.  

Reach out to us today to explore smart homeownership solutions!

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* Typical House Price:  Typical house price for a Council Area or Suburb fit via Machine Learning Model to overcome shortfalls in median price data. Source: HtAG, January 2025.

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