Rent or buy a home in Melbourne
15 December 2015 by News Desk
A new report shows that it is currently cheaper to buy a home in Melbourne than to rent.
With interest rates remaining at a historic low, new figures suggest that the mortgage on a one-bedroom apartment in the city is currently $135 per week cheaper than renting the same property.
A new report by the Real Estate Institute of Victoria shows that tenants could pay the mortgage on a $210,000 one-bedroom property in the suburb of Carlton for $221 a week – $135 less than the suburb’s average weekly rent of $356.
The average cost of one-bedroom apartments in Melbourne is $335,000 – but with weekly mortgage repayments of $352, it is $49 less than the weekly average rent of $401.
Mortgage repayments on a $267,750 two-bedroom apartment in Melbourne suburb of Carrum Downs are $282 per week, while the average rent for the same property would be $310 – a saving of $28 a week if you were to but instead of to rent.
Costs are based on average house prices by bedroom, a 10% deposit and a three-year, fixed interest rate of 4.5%.
Darrell Todd of thinkingaustralia says: “This new report is positive news for anyone thinking of living and working in Australia. But it is important to remember that, while buying may be cheaper right now, the situation could easily change when interest rates increase and there will come a time, maybe in a year or two, when it is cheaper to rent rather than to buy.”
