Queensland first home buyers find more inner city options than interstate counterparts

Soaring house prices in Sydney and Melbourne are leaving more first homebuyers in those cities on the sidelines.

But instead of being shut out of the market forever, many are considering “rentvesting”, which is renting where you want to live and investing elsewhere – sometimes in more affordable locations such as Queensland.

But what about first homebuyers in the Sunshine State? Can they afford to invest in property and still have that infamous avocado on toast, too?

Well, yes, it seems they can.

Newly engaged couple Britany Dyke and Daniel Swanson, both 26, settled on their first property in May, but admit they could not have afforded to buy a home in Sydney or Melbourne unless their wages were much higher.

We drive nice cars, we holiday if we want, and we can still manage to buy a house – so that’s saying something about Brisbane.Britany, 26.

“We really wanted to buy a house where the mortgage wasn’t going to be a struggle,” Britany said.

“We did need to get lenders mortgage insurance. I think if we waited until we had a full 20 per cent deposit we would still be saving today.”

The gap between Brisbane and Sydney house prices is at its widest point in more than a decade: Sydney’s median hovers above the eye-watering $1 million price range, Brisbane’s median house price is almost half that at $521,152.

Britany and Daniel bought a three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick townhouse in Tarragindi, which is about nine kilometres from the CBD. The pair paid $410,000 for the property.

“Brisbane doesn’t face the same affordability issues that Sydney and Melbourne have,” Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella said.

“Our capital growth has consistently been around 4 per cent year on year, and this is very modest, especially when compared with Sydney and Melbourne. But the same principles apply. Houses are cheaper on the outer fringes of the city than they are in the inner-ring.”

While would-be investors in Sydney and Melbourne consider buying in other locations, Brisbane first homebuyers still have options on their doorstep.

“It’s not that hard, and for those living in Brisbane that have access to these cheaper house prices, they’re silly not to realise they should be doing everything they can to get into the market while it’s still good,” Britany said.

Britany said prices have increased since they bought their home so she is pleased they knuckled down to pull together a deposit when they did.

“We’re definitely not the richest on the street, and we don’t scrimp and save every cent. We drive nice cars, we holiday if we want, and we can still manage to buy a house – so that’s saying something about Brisbane.”

Source: Domain