Sydney Most Affordable East Coast City For Liveability … Apparently
While the median house price is high, there are other factors at play.
By Terry Christodoulou
Thu, May 27, 2021 3:45pm
< 1 min
< 1 min
Yes, you read that correctly. Sydney has been declared the east coast’s most affordable city for liveability by PRD Real Estate.
Ignoring the fact that the Harbour City has an entry-level price of $1.2 million for a house within 20km of the CBD, PRD’s research argues that Sydney is indeed “the most affordable city for liveability.”
The firm’s reasoning boils down to Sydney having the greatest cost differential between premium and affordable dwellings in the same metropolitan area.
Residents can purchase a house in a liveable suburb for 87% less than the premium needed to purchase in Sydney Metro, well above the other eastern capitals.
PRD’s considerations for affordable and liveable suburbs include property trends, investment potential, affordability, project development, and liveability factors such as low crime rates, availability of amenities within a 5km radius (i.e. school, green spaces, public transport) and a steady unemployment rate.
According to PRD, Peakhurst in Sydney’s south came out on top for houses.
The suburb’s median house price for the first quarter was $1.2 million while units were among the most affordable at $685,000.
Melbourne Metro is the runner up at 42% less, and Brisbane third at 16% less.
Melbourne’s most affordable and liveable houses are found in Greenvale ($728,000), Bellfield ($800,000) and Mulgrave ($850,000).
Elsewhere, Melbourne’s most affordable units were found in Northcote ($595,000), Lower Plenty and Pascoe Vale (both $630,000)
Brisbane’s best performing suburbs included Springwood $530,000, followed by Rochedale South ($545,000) and Ferny Grove ($653,000).
Warner had the lowest-priced units in the Queensland capital with a median of $290,000, followed by Taigum ($320,000) and Coorparoo ($422,000).
MOST POPULAR
The Australian leather house has opened an immersive four-day pop-up in Manhattan, unveiling its Bloom Collection and redefining what a product launch can look like.
Following the successful launch of its Palais Collection, MAISON de SABRÉ has unveiled a new modular handbag system offering more than 720 styling combinations.
The imposing stone structures, with towers, turrets and a hot tub room, lord over the landscape near the mountain resort town of Sandpoint.
By Liz Lucking
Mon, Jul 13, 2026 2 min
2 min
Idaho is not a place that’s often associated with Medieval castles, but a pair have just hit the market for $6.25 million.
The imposing stone structures have towers, turrets, ramparts, arrow-slit windows and even a drawbridge, and might just be the most authentic-looking castles this side of the Atlantic.
“Who expects to see a castle like this in Idaho?” said listing agent Brenda Burk of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, who brought the property to the market last week. They are, she said, “extremely unusual.”
Schweitzer Castle and Château de Melusine, as they’re known, stand within Schweitzer Mountain Resort in the Selkirk Mountains and overlook the nearby mountain resort town of Sandpoint. They take in panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho’s largest lake.
The pair of ski-in/ski-out homes each have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three stories, Burk explained. They are “so authentic,” she said. “Every single stone was handlaid.”
Schweitzer Castle, she said, wasn’t built for “functionality,” but has been modernized and adapted and now has everything a 21st-century residence requires, along with a dungeon, which for some buyers may also be a requisite.
The chateau, meanwhile, has a hot tub room with mountain views, as well as a garage.
The property is being sold furnished, and will come complete with the hand-carved statues, armor, mounted swords, stained-glass windows and a host of antiques dating to the 15th and 16th centuries.
The owner, an antique collector who couldn’t be reached for comment, “is always looking for that hidden jewel and he found that here,” Burk said.
The next custodian is likely to stem from a varied pool of buyers, Burk said, that would include “the trophy-home buyer, someone who can say ‘I own a castle.’”
The property could also appeal to someone looking for a vacation home, or a multi-generational estate, and beyond that “there’s the dreamers,” she said. “We definitely try to market to people who like Medieval history or maybe do Renaissance fairs.”
The seller “really wants it to go to someone with the same passion.”
