Mira Almasri, a 35-year-old single mother, rents a one-bedroom apartment with her two children, aged nine and 14, in Mosman, on Sydney’s wealthy north shore, for $600 a week.
“Everything is expensive in Sydney. Even breathing is expensive,” he said.
Ms Almasri, who works in a bridal shop in central Sydney, said she had given up all hope of owning a home in Sydney.
“It’s impossible to buy in Sydney,” he said.
Stephanie Zizer, 35, started buying property four years ago
“Even if you make a lot of money, it’s still difficult. All my friends who have bought houses in the last two years say they are not happy because they are paying high interest rates.”
“I get about $1,000 a week after taxes and pay $600 for a one-bedroom apartment. Add to that food, gas and electricity and it’s a lot.”
Ms Almasri, originally from Lebanon, has been unable to return home or travel abroad for five years.
“I can’t leave money aside,” he said.
Ms Almasri, who has lived in Australia for 14 years, is looking for a three-bedroom home for herself and her two children.
In her current unit, she sleeps on a sofa bed in the living room while her children share the only bedroom which contains two twin beds.
Santos Tiwari, 35, is an entrepreneur who runs several coffee stalls in Sydney and has just opened a dumpling bar in a laneway off George Street in the CBD.
Zoe Janssen (pictured) works as a paralegal while studying law.
Santos Tiwari (pictured) has just opened Dumpling & Momo bar in central Sydney.
He bought a five-bedroom house in Adelaide in 2015 which he rents out for $550 a week.
But he says properties in his hometown are ridiculously overpriced.
“It would be nice to buy one in Sydney, but not for the amount you have to pay now – it’s just ridiculous,” he said.
I would probably shop elsewhere in Australia before Sydney.
Mr Tiwari lives in a two-bedroom house overlooking the harbour in Gladesville on Sydney’s north shore, and rents for $700 a week.
Jacob Burrows, 22, an electrician from Perth, Western Australia, hopes to buy a property in the next 12 months despite interest rates being at their highest level since 2012.
He has done a lot of research, including reading a book about a man who owned 30 properties at the age of 30.
“It’s quite difficult at the moment because everything is so expensive,” he said.
Mira Almasri (pictured), a single mother of two, has given up all hope of owning a home in Sydney because the city is “too expensive”.
Jacob Burrows (pictured), an electrician from Western Australia, has studied the property market and hopes to buy next year.
‘A couple of years ago I wanted to try and understand the market to assess what buying a house entails. I spent a year or so learning about the property market and now I’m going to try and look for cheaper houses rather than buying a big one so I can have a smaller deposit.’
Mr Burrows, who is visiting his girlfriend in Sydney, said buying a property in the New South Wales capital was out of the question.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Buying a small property here you can probably buy two houses in Perth.”
Mr Burrows, who now earns $100,000 a year, started working in his industry as soon as he left school at 17 and is looking for places he can renovate himself.
“There’s no need to make excessive compromises,” he says. “I took a step back and evaluated my quality of life and realized that if I rented a smaller house I could have a better lifestyle, I could travel more, etc.”
She hopes to enter the real estate market without the help of her parents.
“I’d rather do it myself than have to worry about Mom and Dad,” he said.
Stephanie Zizer, 35, has lived in Sydney all her life.
Ms Zizer, who is a full-time mother to her two children, began buying property four years ago.
She and her husband, who runs a waste management and recycling business, are finishing paying off a four-bedroom house in expensive Vaucluse.
But recent interest rate hikes have hit them hard.
“Massively,” he said. “Obviously, there have been a lot of increases and that’s affecting everyone right now.”
Before buying with her husband, Mrs Zizer rented in the eastern suburbs.
“It was always expensive to live in the East, but back then it was manageable,” he said.
Garth Johnstone, 25, moved to Sydney from just outside London three and a half years ago.
Mr Johnstone works as a roofer and shares a flat in Darlinghurst, in the inner east of the city.
“My rent is $450 a week right now, but it could go up soon with all the price increases,” she said.
‘Some of my colleagues have already been paid up to $500 a week and I have heard of some hostels where people are paying $450 for a bed in an eight-person dormitory.’
“It’s an exorbitant price, especially for travellers who want to start a life here.”
Mr Garth, who is training for his roofing plumbing licence, is working towards permanent residency and plans to settle in Australia.
You are saving to buy a house within the next five years.
Garth Johnstone (pictured) plans to put down roots in Australia after moving from the UK.
“The market has taken off recently,” he said.
“It’s pretty awful living here, but I don’t really see myself moving that far west, although there are obviously much cheaper rents and more jobs too, so maybe I should do it.”
Zoe Janssen, 21, works as a paralegal in central Sydney while finishing her law degree and lives with her parents in Roseville on the north shore.
“I have no immediate plans to start renting because everything is paid for at home and I’m saving money,” she said.
When you are ready to buy, your dream location would be somewhere near the beach in Sydney.
“You can actually get anywhere right now,” he said.