Proof Sydney’s property market hasn’t ALWAYS been insane: Vintage advert from 1968 shows you could snap up a furnished house 16km from the CBD for just $200,000 in today’s money
- Vintage advert from 1968 offers an insight into the housing market 51 years ago
- A four bedroom home in Beverly Hills in 1968 would cost someone $34,000
- Furnished house 16km from the CBD would cost $200,000 in today’s money
- An average home cost less than what buyers spend in stamp duty in 2019
- Sydney home owners currently spend about $35,000 on stamp duty alone
- Sydney’s median house price of $866,524 is 10 times the average salary
A vintage advert from 1968 offers an insight into the housing market 51 years ago.
For less than $200,000 in today’s money, buyers could snap up a furnished home 16km from central Sydney.
The Burgis and Morelli real estate notice showcased homes in Beverly Hills and surrounding suburbs in the city’s south-west.
Home buyers could own a two-bedroom cottage for less than $13,000, while a four-bedroom home with five living rooms near a train station would set someone back $34,000.
The Burgis and Morelli real estate notice showcased homes in the Beverly Hills region and surrounding suburbs in south-west Sydney
One of the homes for sale boasted ‘three bedrooms, an open floor plan and separate dining in a quiet street near a Catholic school and train station’ for $17,900.
Another home in nearby Roselands was advertised as a ‘real package deal. Lovely interior, completely furnished in a modern manner including a fridge, washing machine and double garage’ for $16,000.
When adjusted for inflation, $16,000 in 1968 would be worth about $200,000 today.
House prices, of course, have risen at a much faster pace than the consumer price index, with a typical Sydney house selling for more than four times that price.
The average salary for a male worker in 1968 was $3,344, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.
During that era, Sydney’s median house price stood at $18,700, or 5.6 times an average male salary at a time when women couldn’t get home loans.
Home buyers could snap up a two bedroom cottage in the area for under $13,000, while a four bedroom home with five living rooms near a train station would set someone back $34,000
Back in 1987, a typical suburban home with a backyard cost $120,025 – or five times a mean annual wage of $23,858.
But as of June 2019, Sydney’s median house price of $866,524 is more than 10 times an average Australian full-time salary of $83,500.
A homeowner has to cough up about $35,000 in stamp duty to the New South Wales government if they are not a first-timer.
That equates to more than the cost of the most expensive home advertised in the 1968 newspaper clipping.
The majority of three-bedroom homes currently for sale in Beverly Hills and neighbouring suburbs are currently about the current median cost of a home, priced within the $800,000 mark.
The median house price in Sydney has already dived by 17 per cent since peaking in July 2017, despite record-low interest rates following on from an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority crackdown on investor and interest-only loans.