Sydney Housing Market: Why It’s Now One of the Least Affordable in the World
Let’s start with the headline: Sydney has just been named the second least affordable housing market on Earth.¹
According to the 2025 Demographia International Housing Affordability Report, Sydney’s median house price is now 13.8 times the median household income.
For context:
New York sits at 7.4×
London is 9.1×
Sydney is 13.8×
Only Hong Kong ranks higher, though at this rate, Sydney may soon take the top spot.
If that wasn’t sobering enough, another recent analysis projected that, at current growth rates, the average household won’t be able to afford to buy a home in Sydney until 2096.² That’s 71 years from now.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Image: Annie Spratt
How Did We Get Here?
The Demographia report evaluates housing affordability across 95 cities worldwide by comparing median house prices to median household incomes. Any ratio over 5.1× is considered “severely unaffordable.” Sydney is nearly triple that threshold.
And the 2096 projection? That came from a separate study that assumed:
Annual wage growth of 3%
Annual house price growth of 2%
A mortgage rate of 4.75%
And a definition of affordability as spending no more than 35% of household income on repayments
Under those assumptions, it would take until the year 2096 for a median-income household to be able to afford a median-priced house in Sydney.²
That’s not a stretch of the truth. That’s a stretch of the entire system.
What This Means for Buyers Today
For first-home buyers, these numbers are more than just headlines, they’re real barriers. The idea of homeownership is starting to feel more like a generational privilege than a personal goal.
Even for those with solid incomes and long-term plans, the sheer scale of Sydney’s property market creates a sense of helplessness. You’re told to "get into the market," but with what? Where? And how?
Meanwhile, price guides remain vague, transparency is low, and competition for quality stock hasn’t slowed.
So... What Now?
There are two ways to respond to these statistics.
One is despair. You hear 2096, and you give up. You assume you’re locked out forever.
The other is strategy. You understand the challenges, and start looking for ways to navigate them intelligently.
At The Acquiry, we don’t pretend this market is easy. But we do believe it’s navigable, with the right approach.
We help buyers:
Understand what’s worth pursuing and what’s not
Identify value before the rest of the market catches on
Avoid overpaying in emotionally charged campaigns
Focus on long-term, sustainable decisions, not short-term hype
Because in a city where affordability is sliding out of reach, clarity is everything.
Buying May Be Hard. But Buying Blind Is Worse.
Yes, the numbers are confronting. Yes, Sydney is expensive. But the solution isn’t to panic, or to wait forever hoping things will get easier. The solution is to act with a plan.
“If you’re ready to make a move, but want to make the right one, speak to The Acquiry. As a Sydney-based buyers’ agent, we help you buy smart in a city that doesn’t make it easy.”
Sources:
¹https://www.newgeography.com/content/008534-demographia-international-housing-affordability-2025-edition-released
²https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/this-is-the-year-you-will-be-able-to-afford-a-home/news-story/3c2ed3e03d1ca11978d8229dc92a016a