Brendon Jones is one person who knows the shortcomings of Sydney all too well. Building new in the big smoke wasn’t an option for him.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He said the strangle of excessive mortgage repayments wasn’t worth the dubious result of “sitting on the neighbour’s fence”.
“Sydney is a madhouse - it’s a nice place to look at, but it’s a bugger of a place to live,” Mr Jones said.
“They are behind the eight ball in so many ways … it is virtually impossible to get into the market unless you come across some sort of windfall.”
The sales manager will soon make the tree change with his wife after the completion of his home.
Brian Bortolin from Griffith Real Estate said the difference in housing costs for Griffith compared to Sydney was quite clear.
“The median price to purchase a house here would be $280,000,” he said.
“Without having the exact figures I would say the median rent price would be around $210.”
This compared to the much larger median house price of Sydney which stands at $1 million.
The median rent in Sydney more than doubles Griffith’s, sitting at $530 a week.
Mr Bortolin said that Griffith didn’t compare to Sydney in terms of growth, but on a purely financial basis Griffith was the clear winner.
“Our growth is nowhere near what the Sydney markets area is achieving,” he said.
“On a purely dollar basis Griffith comes out looking better though.”
He said the past 12 months had seen a large rise in investment property purchases from outside buyers.
“Recently we’ve dealt with a lot of large blocks such as 10 unit places, and we’re getting the majority of interest from out of town,” he said.
“It’s just affordability, what they’re getting in Griffith is far greater than what they’re getting in Sydney.”
Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Vernon Smith said Sydney and Melbourne property prices have grown at more than 15 per cent per annum over the last three years, outperforming any other Australian markets and creating a bubble.
"In Sydney and Melbourne, you are talking about regional growth that is significantly faster than other areas,” he said.
“There is little regulators can do to prevent them as they are largely a reflection of human nature, investing in what they perceive as a growth market
“Our research, over many years, has shown that even if investors can see that they are investing in real estate at the peak of the market, they adopt a boom-time mentality."