A young mum has shared how she is on the verge of giving up after a frustrating and fruitless search to buy a family home in Sydney.
Gracie Lim said that after three ‘draining’ weeks of unsuccessfully trying to find a suitable suburban home, she is reconsidering staying in her ‘tiny two-bedroom’ apartment in the inner city.
‘The last three weeks have been completely draining,’ Ms Lim wrote on social media.
‘Here’s the backstory: My husband and I finally decided to hop on the train to suburban living in Sydney.
‘After years in our tiny two-bedroom apartment in just a 20-25minute train ride from the city CBD, we thought it was time for a change.
‘We started looking into buying a landed property in Sydney, and let me tell you – it’s exhausting.
‘In our current neighbourhood, houses sell for between $3-5million for a three to five bedroom home, which, of course, we cannot afford. Other places we looked at, like Ryde or the Hills District, are a little more affordable but still range from $1.8-2million – still a tough pill to swallow.’
Ms Lim said she and her husband even checked out Box Hill and Schofields in Sydney’s outer northwest.
Sydneysider Grace Lim has shared her frustration at trying to buy a family home in Sydney on social medium
‘Sorry, but living there felt like being stuck in a Sims simulation – everything is eerily perfect yet somehow soulless,’ Ms Lim wrote.
She said that ‘desperate for options,’ she and her husband started looking further out, including the NSW Central Coast.
‘It’s undeniably beautiful – the coastal vibe, charming homes, and laid-back lifestyle. Your $1million can go a long way,’ she wrote.
‘But then, the constant sound of cicadas ruined it for me.
‘At this point, I’m seriously wondering: should we just stay in our tiny apartment? What would you do if you were in my position?’
She is now even considering a move to Melbourne, after seeing what her husband’s work friend was able to get for his money.
‘He bought a beautifully renovated three-bedroom Victorian townhouse in Richmond for $1.4million. It was absolutely stunning – my mind was blown.
‘I left feeling a little jealous because something like that would easily cost $3-4million in Surry Hills.
‘Now I’m wondering if it is worth uprooting what we’ve started here in Sydney and making a move.’
Her dilemma attracted a number of sympathetic replies, offering advice on what she should do.
‘We made the decision to move from the innerwest to Parramatta when the opportunity to buy came up,’ one person explained.
‘We’ve had to make peace with a standalone house probably not being within reach anytime soon (if ever) and ended up finding a relatively large two-bedder for under $500k.
‘The area still feels lively and is really well connected to Sydney.’
Another said: ‘We moved from the lower Blue Mountains to regional Queensland 24 years ago.
‘Leaving Sydney was the best thing we ever did, although I miss the trains.’
‘With young kids, I’d prioritise a shorter commute. There were days when I had toddlers where I counted the seconds until my husband walked in the door to help,’ a third added.
‘My cousins in Melbourne purchased a three-bedroom townhouse near Footscray for around $900k. If my parents were not living in Sydney, I would have moved to Melbourne,’ a fourth said.
While the Sydney property market has experienced some recent cooling it is off the back of soaring prices (Sydney house sale pictured)
While the Sydney property market has cooled down marginally that is off the back of sky-rocketing prices.
Sydney’s median house price fell by 0.1 per cent in October while annual growth has slowed to 3.9 per cent, according to CoreLogic.
As recently as February, Sydney house prices were growing at an annual pace of 11.7 per cent with a monthly increase of 0.4 per cent.
In the other Australian capitals Melbourne and Hobart hose prices have fallen over the year but there is still double-digit annual growth in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The median house price in Sydney is almost $1.5million.
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