Priced out first-home buyers ‘postcode pivot’ to secure homes

With Greater Sydney’s median apartment price exceeding $860,000, many first-home buyers are being priced out of their preferred locations, leading to a trend for buyers to ‘postcode pivot’ to secure a home.

And one train driver said it helped him score his first home without needing a substantial amount of money in savings.

The postcode pivot trend sees lesser-known neighbouring suburbs gain momentum as affordable alternatives that offer lifestyle appeal at an accessible price point for first-time buyers.

Granville is just one example, with the Western Sydney hotspot presenting a connected ‘pivot’ from nearby Parramatta.

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A recent analysis by SuburbsGuide ranked Granville the 25th most affordable out of 658 Sydney suburbs and sits within the four per cent of Sydney suburbs that have property priced under $550,000 with the suburb even offering brand new units at this price.

For 25-year-old Light Rail driver Matthew Salfinger, a ‘postcode pivot’ allowed him to purchase his new one-bedroom apartment for $570,000.

“I started looking for a property in 2023 just out of interest to see what was available and so forth and come 2024 I started a new job at Parramatta Light Rail,” he said.

“I pretty much saved everything that I had since I started working there and I started looking at places around Parramatta and that area to see what was available and what the prices were. I found it was very expensive. I ended up looking closer to where I am now which is in Granville.

“I ended up stumbling across this place and asked a few questions, obviously it was a lot cheaper.”

Using a property platform known as Coposit, which allows purchasers to secure homes with smaller payments instead of traditional deposits, Mr Salfinger was able to secure an apartment with a $10,000 payment upfront.

Under the scheme, he will pay weekly installments on the property while it is under construction to have a higher deposit ready by settlement.

He said he liked the convenience of Granville. “I don’t want a large commute, I don’t actually own a car so being within biking or walking distance was a must for me.

“I like that its close to everything. There’s a lot of transport around here so I can get to anywhere in the CBD or Parramatta in under 20 minutes.

“So it’s really convenient being here and significantly cheaper than being in the centre of any of the major hubs really.”

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Mr Salfinger is currently renting with his parents while he waits for the completion of his home in a development known as East+Cowper. The unit will be finished in 2027.

“I’m sharing with my parents, it’s a way that I can help again save more for my mortgage,” he said.

“It’s very small, but the new apartment will be bigger and nicer.

“For me, it’s obviously just having a place of my own and I’ll be away from my parents – it will give me basically first slice of my own freedom.”

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Mr Salfinger said the larger apartment will also be able to better accommodate for his current train model collection with around 35 models from various countries.

“I started collecting trains when I was really young. It’s been something that I’ve carried on throughout my entire life and never thought I would be driving a real one either,” he said.

“I do have a small train layout that I like to put out, but space has always been a problem, so in my new apartment when I found that it had a detached area or almost a second room it worked perfectly as I’ll now have the space to put up something more permanent and be able to enjoy my trains after I come back from driving them.”

Ellipse Property’s $215m East+Cowper development reflects a high turnaround of those looking for their first home, with 35 per cent of apartments sold to first-home buyers since the project’s launch.

Located at 2-6 Cowper St and 5 East St in Granville, the development offers brand-new one-bedroom apartments from $545,000, two-bedroom apartments from $735,000 to three-bedroom apartments starting at $925,000.

Construction is set to commence by the end of 2025 with iCIRT-rated builder Decode scheduling completion by the end of 2027.

According to Ellipse Property Associate Director Puja Khanna, the combination of lifestyle, budget and accessibility to transport have been particularly appealing for a younger generation.

“Granville ticks all the boxes in that sense,” she said.

“It is close to Parramatta, one stop away and the train station is two minutes away.”

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Ms Khanna said Granville offers a hidden gem for those who can’t find anything within their budget in Parramatta.

“The latest buyers we have been getting are people who are wanting to get into Parramatta but because the prices are so high there, they have been looking at surrounding suburbs,” she said.

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