Houses a short drive from the beach or the city are still affordable for first-home buyers on a $400,000 budget.
Mortgage broker Aussie is recommending postcodes where borrowers can get a loan with a deposit of $40,000, or the price of a new car, and not be struggling to pay their bills on an average salary.
On the Central Coast, a little more than an hour's drive north of Sydney, someone able to work from home can still buy a house for $415,000 at Wyee in the Lake Macquarie area, CoreLogic data on median prices for October found.
They would only need $41,500 for a minimum 10 per cent deposit if they were prepared to pay lender's mortgage insurance.
Houses a short drive from the beach or the city are still affordable for first-home buyers on a $400,000 budget. Mortgage broker Aussie is recommending postcodes where borrowers can get a loan with a deposit of $40,000, or the price of a new car, and not be struggling to pay their bills on an average salary (pictured is an Aussie map showing more affordable areas in purple)
The median price is also less than half the Central Coast's mid-point house price of $954,330, which would buy something with a backyard at Woy Woy.
In Brisbane, the median house price at Acacia Ridge only 15km south of the city, is $452,500 - requiring a deposit of just $45,250.
This is also significantly less than Brisbane's median house price of $731,392.
In Sydney, someone on a $400,000 budget wanting to be a middle-distance from the city has to buy an apartment.
Lakemba, in the city's multicultural south-west, is a half-hour train ride from the city and the median apartment price in October was just $382,500 - or less than half greater Sydney's mid-point unit price of $837,262.
A borrower would be able to buy with a 10 per cent deposit of just $38,250.
On the Central Coast, a little more than an hour's drive north of Sydney, someone able to work from home can still buy a house for $415,000 at Wyee in the Lake Macquarie area, CoreLogic data for October found (pictured is a house that sold for $450,000)
Those after an affordable house in Sydney can try Box Hill, 50km north-west of the central business district, where the median house price is $611,500.
Brad Cramb, Aussie's chief executive of distribution, said stricter lending rules meant buyers needed to reconsider their choices
That is less than half Sydney's median house price of $1.334million, following an annual increase of 30.4 per cent.
Someone only needs a 10 per cent deposit of $61,150 to get a loan.
With a 20 per cent deposit, a borrower on an average-full-time salary of $90,329 can borrow $489,200 and avoid being in mortgage stress.
In Melbourne, the mid-point price for a city apartment is just $426,750, with a deposit of $42,675 enough to get a loan.
The median price for an apartment at beachside St Kilda is $550,000 - requiring a 10 per cent deposit of just $55,000.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority considers a debt-to-income ratio of six to be risky and has, since
