A Property Price Index, for 2011, shows the following House Price to Income Ratios for selected British and Australian locations.
City | Country | Ratio |
Bath | UK | 20.03 |
London | UK | 15.08 |
Sydney | Australia | 10.52 |
Bristol | UK | 10.07 |
Melbourne | Australia | 8.71 |
Cambridge | UK | 8.10 |
Canberra | Australia | 6.84 |
Darwin | Australia | 6.22 |
Brisbane | Australia | 6.05 |
Kingston Upon Hull | UK | 5.86 |
Leeds | UK | 5.07 |
Oxford | UK | 5.03 |
Hobart | Australia | 5.00 |
Preston | UK | 4.72 |
Perth | Australia | 4.68 |
Reading | UK | 4.62 |
Southampton | UK | 3.85 |
The report that these figures were extracted from is at: numbeo.com and compares 353 Towns/Cities around the world.
Rabat, Morocco comes out at a 60.42 House Price to Income Ratio whilst Jacksonville, FL, United States is at the other extreme with just 1.2 House Price to Income Ratio.
The House Price to Income Ratio is calculated as the ratio of median house prices to median familial disposable incomes, expressed as years of income.
Based on that calculation, and with Sydney, Australia having a median property value of $500,000 (www.rpdata.com.au) then the median familial disposable income must be A$47,528 ($500,000 divided by 10.52).
Using the same calculations for each Australian City on the list we get median familial disposable incomes of:
- $47,529 Sydney
- $54,535 Melbourne
- $64,000 Hobart
- $68,328 Darwin
- $69,421 Brisbane
- $71,637 Canberra
- $97,222 Perth
Make of that what you will.
The median household incomes for each State in Australia, shown from ABS 6523.0 – Household Income and Income Distributions, (Table 17) figures, are:
- $104,416 ACT
- $91,468 NT
- $76,232 WA
- $68,952 QLD
- $68,588 NSW
- $67,600 Vic
- $59,696 SA
- $53,352 Tas
Somewhat different to the calculations above.
Using the ABS Median Household income figures, and the RP Data property figures, we get House Price to Income Ratios of:
Ratio | City | City Property Value | State Median Income |
7.3 | Sydney | $500,000 | $68,588 |
7.0 | Melbourne | $475,000 | $67,600 |
6.4 | Adelaide | $380,000 | $59,696 |
6.1 | Brisbane | $420,000 | $68,952 |
6.0 | Hobart | $320,000 | $53,352 |
6.0 | Perth | $455,000 | $76,232 |
4.7 | Canberra | $490,000 | $104,416 |
4.6 | Darwin | $425,000 | $91,468 |