jonathan-borba-DUrU_bZV8So-family-friendly-subrubs-main.jpg

A new study by Well Money identified 20 suburbs that possess the right conditions for Australian families looking for a home.

Well Money CEO Scott Spencer said buying conditions in these suburbs had become easier due to a substantial increase in supply.

“Buyers have more options and downward pressure is being placed on prices, which should translate into discounts sooner or later,” he said.

“That’s good to see, because while it’s nice for people’s homes to increase in value, we don’t want working families to be priced out of the market.”

The family suburbs are identified as having the following characteristics:

  • Have a median house price between $200,000 and $1.5m
  • Be no more than 200km from a capital city CBD
  • Owner-occupiers make up at least 70% of the local population
  • Freestanding houses account for least than 60% of the local dwellings
  • Households have at least 2.5 people on average
  • Having a Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) education score of at least 6

Well Money analysed the change in inventory levels of several suburbs in each state and territory in identifying which ones are the most family-friendly in the current market.

For context, inventory levels indicate the amount of time it would take to sell all the houses in a particular location if houses kept selling and no stock were added to the market.

Rising inventory levels means that it is becoming easier for buyers to find properties, with less competition and with less upwards pressure on prices.

More than half of the most family-friendly suburbs in the list are in Queensland and Victoria.

On top of the list is Queensland’s Barellan Point, which has a median price of $807,000. Over the past three months, its inventory level increased by 3.3 months — this means that it would take 3.3 months for all houses in the suburb to get sold assuming no other listings were added to the market.

Next on the list is the more affordable suburb of Willunga in South Australia, where median prices are at $607,500. This suburb has a similar inventory level to Barellan Point.

Coming in third is Mons in Queensland — unlike the first two, this suburb has a more expensive median price tag of $1.1m. Its inventory level increased by 3.2 months over the last three months.

The rest of the 20 most family-friendly suburbs are below:

State

Suburb

Median house price

Increase in inventory levels over past 3 months

QLD

Barellan Point

$807,000

+3.3 months

SA

Willunga

$607,500

+3.3 months

QLD

Mons

$1,100,000

+3.2 months

WA

Boya

$620,000

+3.0 months

QLD

Nudgee

$855,000

+2.8 months

VIC

Gisborne

$1,050,000

+2.7 months

VIC

Junortoun

$750,000

+2.6 months

VIC

Silvan

$1,395,000

+2.5 months

QLD

Camp Mountain

$1,300,000

+2.5 months

QLD

Newport

$1,350,000

+2.4 months

VIC

Selby

$1,000,000

+2.3 months

WA

Warwick

$630,000

+2.3 months

SA

West Lakes Shore

$842,000

+2.2 months

WA

Edgewater

$630,000

+1.9 months

NSW

Bolwarra Heights

$940,000

+1.9 months

VIC

Torquay

$1,330,000

+1.9 months

ACT

Curtin

$1,421,000

+1.8 months

QLD

Black Mountain

$950,000

+1.8 months

NSW

Saratoga

$1,300,000

+1.7 months

VIC

Viewbank

$1,270,000

+1.7 months

 —

Photo by @jonathanborba on Unsplash.