Sydney homeowners earned more than a CEO, lawyer, or mining engineer did last year - just from their house

Most rises in median house prices in 2021 are equivalent to the salaries of our country’s Top 10 earning jobs.

Residz Team 3 min read

If an Australian home was a job, it would be in the country’s Top 10 earners. By owning a home in Sydney, you likely earned more in one year than a mining engineer, or a psychiatrist who studied for a decade. If your home is in Brisbane, you probably earned more than a CEO or Managing Director.

Australian house prices are not even at their peak, yet most rises in median house prices in 2021 are equivalent to the salaries of our country’s Top 10 earning jobs.

The Top 10 occupations by taxable income was last year published by the Australian Tax Office (using data from 2018-19 income year) and it goes like this.  

  1. Surgeon - $394,303
  2. Anaesthetist - $386,065
  3. Internal Medicine Specialist - $304,752
  4. Financial Dealer - $275,984
  5. Psychiatrist - $235,558
  6. Other Medical Practitioners - $222,933
  7. Judicial or Legal Professionals - $188,798
  8. Mining Engineer - $184,507
  9. CEO or Managing Director - $164,896
  10. Engineering Manager - $159,940

When you slot in the median house price rises, you can see how Australian homeowners substantially increased their wealth, albeit on paper for many, in 2021.

  1. Surgeon - $394,303
  2. Anaesthetist - $386,065
  3. Average Sydney homeowner - $349,489
  4. Internal Medicine Specialist - $304,752
  5. Financial Dealer - $275,984
  6. Psychiatrist - $235,558
  7. Other Medical Practitioners - $222,933
  8. Average Melbourne homeowner - $204,701
  9. Judicial or Legal Professionals - $188,798
  10. Mining Engineer - $184,507
  11. Average Brisbane homeowner - $182,540
  12. Average Hobart homeowner - $165,104
  13. CEO or Managing Director - $164,896
  14. Engineering Manager - $159,940

Of course, some property owners made a lot more, like Sydney’s Martin who posted his delight on Twitter.

As well, Ch.9 news recently revealed that property research firm CoreLogic's Pain and Gain report showed that in the three months to September 2021, the middle range of those who made a profit was $270,000.

Extraordinary also is that the average Byron Bay homeowner in 2020 made even more than Australia’s top surgeons.

  1. Average Byron Bay homeowner 2020 - $453,723
  2. Surgeon - $394,303
  3. Anaesthetist - $386,065

Even a small regional town like Tooradin in Victoria, population just over 1500, made homeowners almost $60,000 in a year (which is about the same as our hard-working nurses get). The average median house price there is now $790,000.  

According to the Real Estate Institute of Australia, the median house price data for the year to September 2021 looked like this:

Note, for the purposes of this article I’ve calculated the “salary” of a Brisbane homeowner based on the increase in median house price to December 2021, which rose 30.4% or $182,540 to $783,000.

Source: Corelogic - December 2021

Brisbane homeowners are, figuratively, still climbing up the corporate ladder. According to The Urban Developer, economists predict Brisbane house prices could more than double by the time the 2032 Olympic Games roll around, taking median home values above $1.4 million.

It’s a sobering story for the majority of homebuyers who have to save deposits and chase the rapidly rising prices with incomes well below those of the Top 10 earners.  

So, if you’re a homeowner and you’ve put some fresh paint on your walls and mowed the lawn, you’ve done a good day’s work. Of course, if you’ve just spent decades studying to earn as much as an Australian homeowner, you can at least be reassured that you’ll still be earning your big bikkies even if house prices fall, as some predict they will sometime in 2023. You’re probably the only ones who can afford to buy houses by then anyway!  

Image: North Sydney terrace house