Melbourne city centre, coastal Queensland are cheaper to buy than rent, CoreLogic, ANZ report finds

Trendy inner-city suburbs, tropical islands and famous beach-side suburbs: The much sought-after spots where it’s now cheaper to BUY than to rent

  • Melbourne’s city centre is cheaper to buy than rent, CoreLogic-ANZ report said
  • Queensland’s Surfers Paradise, Cairns, Whitsunday also better for home buyers
  • Sydney and Perth had no suburbs where a mortgage cost less than renting 
  • Pockets of Adelaide, Darwin and outer Brisbane, Canberra home loan friendly 

Trendy inner-city suburbs in Melbourne and famous beach-side vistas in Queensland are cheaper to buy than rent, new research shows.

A housing affordability report by real estate data group CoreLogic and the ANZ bank found areas of Australia where it cost less to service a mortgage than be a tenant.

In Melbourne’s city centre, paying off a home loan every month consumed 39 per cent of a median household income while renting gobbled up 41.8 per cent of earnings.

Trendy inner-city suburbs in Melbourne and famous beach-side vistas in Queensland are cheaper to buy than rent, new research by CoreLogic and the ANZ bank shows (pictured is Degraves Street in downtown Melbourne)

The Melbourne City Council area, which takes in the hipster suburbs of Carlton and Docklands, was among a handful of metropolitan areas across Australia where buying was cheaper than honouring a lease, along with parts of Adelaide, Darwin, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart.

Popular tourist destinations along the Queensland coast were also more attractive for buyers than renters, the December quarter report released this week found.

Home borrowers at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast typically paid 34.1 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments while tenants there gave 40 per cent of their take-home pay to their landlord.

The situation was similar in north Queensland, with mortgages in the Whitsunday area consuming 29.6 per cent of household income compared with 31.2 per cent for renting.

The area takes in Airlie Beach and nearby South Molle and Hamilton islands. 

Home borrowers at Surfers Paradise (pictured) on the Gold Coast typically paid 34.1 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments while tenants there gave 40 per cent of their take-home pay to their landlord

Home borrowers at Surfers Paradise (pictured) on the Gold Coast typically paid 34.1 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments while tenants there gave 40 per cent of their take-home pay to their landlord

Cairns was another place which favoured buyers, with mortgages in this tropical far north Queensland city taking up 27.4 per cent of income versus 28.5 per cent for renting

Cairns was another place which favoured buyers, with mortgages in this tropical far north Queensland city taking up 27.4 per cent of income versus 28.5 per cent for renting

Cairns was another place which favoured buyers, with mortgages in this tropical far north Queensland city taking up 27.4 per cent of income versus 28.5 per cent for renting.

WHERE BUYING COSTS LESS THAN RENTING

Melbourne city: 39% (of household income paying off a mortgage) versus 41.8% (of pay that goes towards rent)

Surfers Paradise: 34.1% versus 40%

Whitsunday: 29.6% versus 31.2%

Cairns: 27.4% versus 28.5%

Cairns south: 26% versus 30.2% 

Beenleigh, southern Brisbane, 29.9% versus 31%

Springwood, southern Brisbane, 25% versus 28.1% 

Adelaide city: 33.2% versus 33.5%

Playford, north Adelaide: 23.3% versus 28.3%

Darwin city: 16% versus 20.5%

Darwin suburbs: 20.6% versus 21.4%

Molonglo, south-west Canberra, 13.9% versus 14.4%

Hobart, north-west, 33% versus 37%

Source: CoreLogic-ANZ  Housing Affordability Report for the December quarter. Methodology is based on home borrowers, who have paid a 20 per cent deposit. The comparisons are based on the proportion of a median household salary in that city it takes to repay a mortgage compared with renting

The southern suburbs of this city were even more favourable for borrowers, with mortgage repayments sapping 26 per cent of income compared with 30.2 per cent for renting. 

Sydney and Perth had no suburbs which were cheaper to buy than rent.

Brisbane’s outer southern suburbs, in an area known as Logan, offered pockets that favoured borrowers over tenants.

In Beenleigh, paying off a mortgage took up 29.9 per cent of household income compared with 31 per cent for renting.

Nearby Springwood was even more affordable, with home loan repayments taking up 25 per cent of income compared with 28.1 per cent for signing a lease.

On the other side of Brisbane, Caboolture’s hinterland area marginally favoured buyers, with mortgage servicing taking up 31.4 per cent of pay compared with 31.5 per cent for renting. 

Across Australia, 79 localities were found to be cheaper for home borrowers than tenants, with 11 of those in capital cities.

Darwin city was particularly friendly to home buyers, with mortgages taking up just 16 per cent of income compared with 20.5 per cent for renting. 

The Molonglo Valley area of outer south-west Canberra was even better for buyers, with mortgages taking up 13.9 per cent of pay, which was much less than 14.4 per cent for leasing. 

The situation was similar in north Queensland, with mortgages in the Whitsunday area consuming 29.6 per cent of household income compared with 31.2 per cent for renting

The situation was similar in north Queensland, with mortgages in the Whitsunday area consuming 29.6 per cent of household income compared with 31.2 per cent for renting

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