Domain has published its home price figures for the September quarter, which show that the median house price in Sydney reached a record high of $1,751,728 following a 6.3% annual increase.
Sydney units also increased to a record high of $840,422 following a softer 2.7% annual increase.
As shown in the table below from Domain, Sydney’s median house price is $650,614 greater than Brisbane, Australia’s second most expensive capital city.
The following chart from CBA shows that when mortgage payments on the median-priced home are compared to dual average full-time salaries, Sydney has easily the worst housing affordability in the nation.
The Albanese government’s 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers has set a price cap for Sydney of $1.5 million, which is around $250,000 below Domain’s median house price.
As noted by leading Sydney auctioneer Tom Panos in his weekend market wrap, if someone utilised the 5% deposit scheme in Sydney and borrowed $1.4 million, then “your loan repayment is over $8,000 a month. Not one month, not two months, every month. So, be mindful of it”.
In other words, Sydney homebuyers are facing a lifetime of mortgage servitude for buying into the nation’s most expensive market.
The following chart from Domain illustrates how soaring rents are also devastating Sydney tenants.
In the September quarter of 2025, the median weekly rent for a Sydney house was $780, an increase of $240 (44%) from $540 in the same period in 2020.
The median Sydney unit rent was $750 in the September quarter of 2025, up $255 (52%) from $495 in the September quarter of 2020.
Sydney’s house and unit rents are also easily the most expensive in the nation.
Domain chief of research and economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said that tenants had hit their “affordability ceiling” amid “relentless rental hikes over the previous few years”.
Domain also reported that Sydney’s rental vacancy rate was only 0.9% in the September quarter, well below the vacancy rate of about 3% that reflects a balance between tenants and landlords.
“Vacancy rates are still quite tight … it’s still very much a landlord’s market”, she said.
Is it any wonder that Sydney’s birth rate has plunged and that younger residents are leaving the city in significant numbers?
Given that the Australian Bureau of Statistics projects that Sydney’s population will reach 8.3 million by 2070 as a result of continually high net overseas migration, these trends will continue.
Sydney will become increasingly expensive to purchase or rent, with high-rise housing that is unsuitable for raising children.
The sad reality is that young Sydneysiders have no housing future.
