Sydney’s most affordable suburbs are no longer affordable

“We say affordable … that’s based on pricing. So we want to make sure it’s below the median house price in Sydney, which is about $1.4 million,” she said.

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Mr Mathiasmo said the Sydney market was in the midst of a strong recovery.

“It’s actually a window of opportunity because it’s still in the cycle of a slight decline from the increase in cash (rates),” she said.

Mr Madiasmo said data showed there were more unaffordable houses than unaffordable units, so first-home buyers were more likely to buy units than houses in desirable areas.

“One of the great things about Sydney is that the affordable, liveable suburbs aren’t all concentrated in one area,” she said.

“It’s not concentrated in one small area, and it’s not all in the north, and it’s not all in the west.”

Ben Horwood of Horwood Nolan is not surprised that Concord’s median house price has risen 109 per cent since 2015 to $2.8 million.

“I’ve always referred to Concord as the Double Bay of the inner west,” he said.

“In terms of lifestyle, it’s in the heart of Sydney and you can be everywhere in a short time. It’s within easy reach of private schools in Strathfield and it’s right on the water.”

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Concord was once thought to be Strathfield’s poor relative or younger brother, but now they are more like twins, Horwood said.

“People who look at both markets see a lot of overlap.”

LJ Hooker research director Mathew Tiller said the more a suburb gentrified over time, the greater its demand.

Mr Tiller said prices would rise when first-home buyers tried to move from an apartment to a larger unit in the same suburb, for example. “If they can’t do that, they move to the next cheaper suburb,” he said.

“As more people move in, homes get renovated (and) it becomes gentrified … it’s a suburb next door to a popular suburb that’s becoming more popular, there’s more renovations, (and) new homes start to come in. That obviously drives up the median price.”

Many of the out-of-price suburbs are located on rail lines and Mr Tiller said access to transport, which cuts commute times, was a clear indicator of a suburb’s popularity.

“More and more people are living in places with good transportation.”

Ray White’s Alex Iannuzzelli said buyers who couldn’t afford upper north shore suburbs closer to the city were being drawn to Hornsby.

“(It) spreads those buyers and their budgets further into Hornsby and surrounding suburbs that are still within easy or convenient distance of the city and close to private schools.”

Mr Iannuzzelli said the Westfield shopping centre and train station were also major drawcards.

“It’s a dining and entertainment hub for property owners within a five to ten kilometre radius.”

Mr Iannuzzelli said as long as house prices on the upper north shore continued to rise, so would prices in fringe suburbs such as Hornsby.