To buy the median Sydney home without mortgage stress you need about $245,869 a year. The typical Sydney household earns about $125,285. That is the wall. The only capital where the typical household clears it is Darwin, where high public-sector pay meets the cheapest capital-city housing.
The income wall, by capital
"Income needed" is the gross household income at which repayments on the median home stay under the 30% mortgage stress line, assuming a 20% deposit and a 30 year loan at the March 2026 average new owner-occupier variable rate of 5.90%, matched to the valuation date (see the method note).
| Capital | Median home | Income needed | Typical household income | You need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $1,295,387 | $245,869 | $125,285 | 2x |
| Brisbane | $1,101,151 | $209,003 | $111,532 | 1.9x |
| Adelaide | $937,021 | $177,850 | $93,375 | 1.9x |
| Perth | $1,017,698 | $193,163 | $112,497 | 1.7x |
| Hobart | $737,742 | $140,026 | $93,013 | 1.5x |
| Melbourne | $828,249 | $157,205 | $114,668 | 1.4x |
| Canberra | $892,800 | $169,457 | $143,139 | 1.2x |
| Darwin | $618,596 | $117,412 | $133,247 | 0.9x (clears it) |
"You need" = income needed divided by the typical household income. Above 1.0x means the typical household falls short.
Why this matters more than the deposit talk
A scheme like the 5% Deposit Scheme solves the deposit. It does nothing for serviceability. The bank still has to be satisfied you can repay, and on these numbers most households in most capitals cannot service the median home on a single normal income. That is why two people on solid salaries can still get knocked back, and why the deposit is often the easy part.
The part a broker actually changes
Here is the thing about serviceability: lenders do not assess it the same way. The same household, same income, same debts, can be assessed for materially different borrowing power from one lender to the next, because they treat HECS, overtime, bonuses, casual income and living-expense benchmarks differently. That spread is exactly where a broker earns their keep, by taking your situation to the lender that reads it most generously. It is free to you, because the lender pays them.
Find out your real borrowing power
Run your own numbers with our borrowing power calculator, then we will match you with a broker who knows which lenders assess your income most generously. Free, the lender pays them.
Get matched with a free brokerMethodology and sources
We took each capital's median dwelling value (Cotality Home Value Index, as at 31 March 2026), assumed a 20% deposit and a 30 year principal and interest loan for the other 80%, and used the RBA average rate on new owner-occupier variable loans for the March 2026 reference month (5.90%, statistical table F6), chosen so the prices, the incomes and the rate all sit at the same 31 March 2026 date rather than mixing vintages. The latest published month (May 2026) is 6.23%, and running the study at that rate only pushes every income-needed figure higher. "Income needed" is the gross household income at which those repayments stay at or under 30% of income, which is the standard definition of mortgage stress in Australia. Figures were refreshed on 11 July 2026; the study originally ran on the April figure of 5.92%.
Typical household income is the ABS 2021 Census median household income for each greater capital city, indexed to 2026 by roughly 16% to reflect ABS wage growth since the Census (the next official per-city figure comes with the 2026 Census). We index it up rather than use the raw 2021 figure precisely so the gap is fair, not exaggerated. Three honest caveats. First, we anchor the rate to March 2026 to match the valuation date; the cash rate rose again on 6 May and the latest published lending rate is 6.23%, so at today's rates every figure here is higher than shown. Second, banks also stress-test at your rate plus APRA's 3 percentage point buffer, so the income to actually be approved is higher still. Third, Cotality medians blend houses and units, so a buyer chasing a house specifically faces a taller wall again (Sydney's median house alone is $1,601,782). Every figure here is reproducible from the public sources: Cotality Home Value Index, ABS Census household income, and RBA lenders' interest rates.
Related
- The 5% Deposit Trap, how the deposit scheme is inflating the cheap end of the market.
- The 5% Deposit Map, what your deposit reaches in each capital.
- Borrowing power calculator, work out your own number.