New analysis by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found the great Aussie dream of buying a house remains well and truly alive, with data showing the regions can offer both affordability and competitive incomes.
The RAI’s Good Life Guide allows regionally-curious people to compare aspects of liveability in Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Australia, including the median income, median home price, the price to income ratio when purchasing a home, how economically diverse the region is, and its distance from the coast and national parks.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said with cost-of-living concerns ongoing for many people, the guide not only provides important insights into key financial metrics in both metropolitan and regional areas, but also enables users to explore what a ‘good life’ could look like in another part of the country.
“In the City of Canterbury-Bankstown in Sydney, the median home price is $981,000, which is 17.4 times the median income of just over $56,000. In the New South Wales regional city of Tamworth, where the median income is around $60,000 and the median home price is $500,000, you’re looking at a price-to-income ratio of 8.3 – that’s a big difference,” Ms Ritchie said.
“The Good Life Guide highlights that many people can earn a comfortable living outside of Australia’s biggest cities, as well as get on a realistic path to home-ownership. In many regional communities you can earn a similar if not larger income than in a metropolitan area and find more affordable housing.”
Further, Ms Ritchie said the data contained within the Good Life Guide shows there are dozens of areas across regional Australia, where the median home price is $500,000 or under.
Ms Ritchie said while there are good opportunities to buy homes in the regions, the movement of people into regional Australia in recent years has led to emerging housing shortages in some communities, impacting availability and rents.
“Regional Australia is not homogenous, and whilst many areas have available housing, other places do need more properties to keep up with demand. But to build those homes we need skilled workers, and to train those skilled workers, they need access to education institutions. We need to look at these issues holistically to ensure the regions, which are now home to nearly 9.8 million people, have the infrastructure, services and support they need to thrive,” Ms Ritchie said.
“In this year alone, more than 70,000 jobs have been advertised online across regional Australia each month, many of them professional roles. We cannot address these workforce shortages without addressing housing challenges.
“The National Housing Accord has a target of 1.2 million new houses, and it is imperative regional Australia’s allocation is proportionate to the population residing outside of major metropolitan centres, ideally up to 40%.
“There is even more of an impetus for governments, industry, businesses and communities to work on solutions to these issues given the vitally important role regional Australia will play in our nation’s transition to net zero and the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia policy. The future will be made in regional Australia – but it cannot and will not happen without adequate foundations, and the time to lay them is now.”
The online Good Life Guide utilises 2024 data to build on the RAI’s popular MOVE Tool and will be updated annually to reflect changing property and income figures.
The Good Life Guide is available online at regionalaustralia.org.au
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