Which Australian capital city is most affordable for buying a house?

A typical established house costs between 5.60 and 11.79 times yearly household income across Australia's capital cities, with the lowest ratio in Darwin and the highest in Sydney. The measure divides the ABS March quarter 2026 median established house transfer price by household income updated from the 2021 Census using the ABS Wage Price Index, giving a single figure that compares prices against local earnings in each city.

• In Sydney, a typical established house costs 11.79 times yearly household income, the highest figure of any capital city.
• Darwin is the most affordable capital city on this measure. A typical established house there costs 5.60 times yearly household income, supported by lower house prices and higher typical household income.
• Adelaide has the second-highest ratio at 10.44 times yearly household income, followed by Brisbane at 10.25, Perth at 8.84, Hobart at 7.91, Canberra at 7.44 and Melbourne at 7.37.
• Canberra has the highest typical household income of any capital at $143,947 a year, which keeps the city at 7.44 times yearly household income even with a typical established house price of $1,071,300.

Saving a 20% deposit takes from 7.5 years in Darwin to 15.7 years in Sydney, a gap of 8.2 years across the eight capital cities. The estimate assumes a household saves 15% of typical yearly income, starting from zero; the spread tracks differences in established house prices and household incomes by city.

• In Sydney, a 20% deposit comes to $297,000, the largest of any capital. At a saving rate of 15% of typical yearly household income, the timeline is 15.7 years.
• In Darwin, the same deposit is $150,000, $147,000 less than Sydney's, and it takes 7.5 years to save.
• Adelaide at 13.9 years and Brisbane at 13.7 years take the second and third longest of any capital, for different reasons: Adelaide's timeline is long relative to its $980,000 established house price because its household income is the second-lowest of any capital, while Brisbane's reflects its $1,150,000 established house price, the second-highest after Sydney.
• Melbourne has the shortest timeline after Darwin at 9.8 years, 0.1 years below Canberra's 9.9 years; Canberra's larger deposit of $214,260 is offset by household income of $143,947, the highest of any capital.
• Hobart takes 10.5 years and Perth 11.8 years, placing them between Canberra's 9.9 years and Brisbane's 13.7 years.

Darwin records the lowest figure on all three measures: a price-to-income ratio of 5.60, a modelled repayment share of 42.8%, and a 7.5-year deposit timeline. It is the only capital to rank lowest on each. Hobart has the lowest typical established house price at $740,000, $10,000 below Darwin's $750,000, but its household income of $93,538 compared with Darwin's $133,999 places it behind Darwin on affordability.

Melbourne at 9.8 years and Canberra at 9.9 years have the shortest deposit timelines after Darwin's 7.5 years. Hobart's modelled loan payment of $4,721 a month is the lowest of any capital in dollar terms, but household income of $93,538 means the payment still takes 60.6% of monthly pay.

Across the three measures, the same order holds: Sydney ranks least affordable and Darwin ranks most affordable, with the deposit timeline spanning 7.5 to 15.7 years, the price-to-income ratio ranging from 5.60 to 11.79, and the modelled repayment share ranging from 42.8% to 90.2%. Cities below are ordered from least to most affordable by deposit timeline; red marks the three least affordable cities on this measure, while green marks the two most affordable.

Capital city established house prices in this data span $745,000, from $740,000 in Hobart to $1,485,000 in Sydney. Regional towns fall outside this capital-city comparison, and a lower regional price tag does not by itself settle whether an area is more affordable, because local incomes and access to services also vary.

• Regional towns sit outside this dataset, so this comparison cannot rank them against the capitals. The ABS source also includes rest-of-state figures, but those figures combine many different regional markets and are not used in this capital-city ranking.
• Regional areas can also differ from capital cities in wages, job availability, and access to services like hospitals, schools, and public transport. These broader trade-offs vary by location and are not captured in a price-only comparison or in this article's data.
• Some regional areas, particularly those close to a capital city or in a mining area, may have recorded price rises in recent years and may not be as affordable as a low headline price suggests.
• A broader affordability comparison includes both typical local established house prices and typical local income. This can give a clearer measure than prices alone.