It’s no secret that life in Australia’s major cities is expensive. Step out your front door and they grab you by the ankles and shake every coin out of your pockets. That’s after squeezing you for whatever they can online. Nothing, it seems, comes without a price tag. If you’re looking to buy a home, you’d better start raking it in. Home-loan repayments will leave you dancing for coins at your local RSL. That’s after factoring in the impossible cost of living. Verily, it seems that the game is rigged against us. From the grocery bill to utilities and filling the tank. It never ends. But it could always be worse. We take a look at Sydney’s most expensive suburbs.

Sydney’s Most Expensive Suburbs At A Glance

If you want your back to the wall, there’s endless real estate in NSW to press it against. However, most of the pricey stuff is in Sydney. As of 2022, these are the suburbs where you’ll pay the most to live. Bear in mind that we’re going by the median price range. For instance, a trophy house in any of these suburbs would change the order of suburbs very differently. And, interestingly enough, a median-priced home in Point Piper is equal to one in Vaucluse. That’s surprising since Point Piper is at the very apex of where the trophy houses are. The biggest wonder of all is to find Bellevue Hill at the numero uno spot for a median-priced home. But you live and learn. Moreover, certain suburbs are creeping up the sales chart. However, they’re not traditionally the most sought-after areas such as this.

1/ Bellevue Hill

A mix of upwardly mobile singles and financially privileged families, Bellevue Hill is the last word in unaffordability. It has lavish homes and swank apartments. God knows how it made it to the top, though. Buyers are evidently keen. Anyway, it’s too expensive for a typical family.

Median price: $10,594,000

2/ Vaucluse

Located on the South Head peninsula of The Gap, with unparalleled harbour views, Vaucluse is the jewel in the crown of the ritzy eastern suburbs and is very select. It sits in a sinister cabal with Rose Bay, Watsons Bay, and Dover Heights. Vaucluse is regarded as Sydney’s most affluent suburb. You won’t be able to buy here unless you’ve successfully patented a new Pfizer vaccine.

Median price: $5,012,500

3/ Tamarama

The blissful beauty of Tamarama, on Sydney’s eastern beaches, is only six kilometres from Sydney’s CBD. But for those of us without a few million to blow on scenery, it’s a thousand miles away. For others, it’s but a toe in the salty brine. One of its gorgeous art deco buildings could be yours for an arm, a leg, your head and your torso. Read ’em and weep.

Median price: $4,150,000

4/ Darling Point

Just in case you thought Sydney didn’t have enough blue-ribbon eastern suburbs real estate, you’re wrong. The list goes on. The rest are just slightly more unaffordable than harbourside Darling Point and Rushcutter’s Bay. Ah, Darling Point, with its mansions and apartment blocks, boasts St. Mark’s Anglican Church, where Elton John was married. What a sham that was.

Median Price: $3,717,400

5/ Centennial Park

In the 1980s, the manicured reserve of Centennial Park was a favoured spot for notorious criminals to murder whistleblowers. Its many isolated ponds provided excellent pools to drown witnesses. However, that’s just part of its interesting folklore. Nowadays, it’s a residential gold mine. In addition to all the happening areas, there’s plenty of quaint architecture to distract your gaze. There are even tracks in the park for the equestrian set, and stables too! But it isn’t cheap.

Median price: $2,850,000

Sydney’s Most Affordable Suburbs

Like the yin to the yang on the Tai-Chi symbol, the unaffordable is balanced by the affordable. Or, in other words, the regular world. Yes, it’s a good thing most of us can’t afford to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. People start to enjoy life when they have it all. That only leads to complacency. After all, where do you go once you’ve made it? Naturally, we jest: you live where you can afford to and where you’re happy. The wealthiest suburbs are, without a doubt, lovely; their views are priceless. But that’s not to denigrate the more humble postcodes. Happiness is a state of mind when all is said and done. It’s not wealth that creates happiness, but a sense of contentment with your life. And wherever a person has their home, they should feel pride and satisfaction. So we come to Sydney’s most affordable suburbs.

Having said that, beware: yesterday’s working-class neighbourhood is becoming today’s hot spot. These suburbs are growing with a population burgeoning due to immigration and a shortage of land. What were formerly western Sydney “dumps” are now fetching hitherto unthinkable prices. This is although the housing bubble has allegedly burst after interest rates were lifted. Prices may well fall, but that remains to be seen at the time of writing. Areas that were founded on government housing are shrinking as these suburbs open up. This is why this list tends to appear all the more relative.

1/ Penrith

Situated in Greater Western Sydney, the City of Penrith is growing, even to the dismay of many locals. However, it is one of the large commercial centres in Western Sydney. Slated for major projects, the urban part of Penrith will only expand. Regardless of interest rates, it would be surprising if the median-price home doesn’t hit $1 million by next year.

Median price: $941,500

 2/ Liverpool

The City of Liverpool is located in South Western Sydney. Once a working-class heartland, it has grown to accommodate a large multicultural population. However, more than half of the residential area is comprised of high-density apartments. Liverpool emulates Melbourne in that recent development incorporates a Hoddle Grid of arcades and laneways. There is a major shopping area, a transport hub, a hospital, parks and entertainment venues.

Median price: $939,000

3/ Silverwater

Silverwater is close to the city of Parramatta, which will inevitably catch its overspill from Parramatta. Primarily an industrial suburb in Sydney’s west, there are also newly-built housing blocks and spacious family homes. However, we should mention that Silverwater Prison is located there. Although some might find novelty value in that.

Median price: $900,000

4/ St Marys

St Marys rests within the local government area of the City of Penrith. While there is no surf to enjoy out that way, it retains the bygone feel of working-class suburbia. The terrain is quite flat, and a centralised shopping village provides for the community’s every need. Additionally, there is plenty of space to raise a young family.

Median price:  $840,000

5/ Mount Druitt

Every suburb experiences its own growing pains. Once upon a time, Mount Druitt was a marked no-go zone. With social disadvantage and crime a major problem, it was not a postcode one readily admitted to. An SBS ‘poverty porn’ reality series caused a furore by depicting Mt. Druitt as akin to a warzone. But lately, its reputation has been changing. Real estate agents have reported major sales and it is becoming viewed for its opportunity.

Median price: $732,000

Conclusion

It sure would be nice to own a mansion on Sydney’s harbourside. The world shares that sentiment, hence the scarcity of trophy houses on that market. But we don’t have to go to the extreme to recognise that Sydney house prices are high. You need to travel to the greater west or the regional parts outside of Sydney to find anywhere under a million dollars. It wasn’t always like that, but it is now. Higher interest rates aren’t likely to cause a price fall either. They may stall, but they’ll undoubtedly grow. However, many are selling regardless of an uncertain market, and if you’re one of those, you’ll need a professional real estate agent. More than ever, you’ll need the best. That’s where Perfect Agent can help. We’ll match you with the ideal agent without charge! Contact us today.