An Australian wanting to buy a typical house in a big city now needs to earn more than $200,000 a year.

Employment group Seek has revealed that psychiatrists, construction project managers and doctors typically command salaries of more than $230,000.

Sydney‘s mid-point house price of $1.473million is so expensive that someone buying on their own with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit would need to earn $226,621 just to get a loan.

This individual would still be in mortgage stress, spending a third or more of their pre-tax pay on monthly repayments, despite being among the top 2.3 per cent of income earners.

Psychiatrists, who can prescribe mental health drugs, had the top average, advertised salary of $236,055 during the last financial year, following an annual pay increase of 6.58 per cent which was better than the overall labour market’s 4.1 per cent wage rise.

Construction project managers get $232,682 while general practitioners are on $232,450.

Seek’s head of market data and customer analytics in Australia and New Zealand Leigh Broderick said wages were still rising for some professions, despite the economic slowdown caused by aggressive rate hikes.

‘In the midst of challenging economic conditions, salary continues to be top of mind for many Australians,’ he said.

‘When there is demand in key industry sectors, such as healthcare and manufacturing, we typically see this have a positive correlation to pay packets.’

Manufacturing had the biggest pay increase of 14.62 per cent, taking the average to $140,664.

Health registrars had a 12.18 per cent rise to $145,176. 

An Australian on an average, full-time salary of $100,017 can only buy a property worth up to $650,110 with a 20 per cent deposit.

That’s because banks can only lend individual borrowers up to 5.2 times their salary before tax, with the Reserve Bank cash rate at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent. 

The first home guarantee, enabling buyers to get into the market with a 5 per cent deposit, is more likely to help young people get on the property ladder in regional areas and outer suburbs of the big cities.

The federal government program sees taxpayers fund the rest of the 20 per cent deposit as part of its home guarantee scheme catering to first home buyers, regional first home buyers and single parents.

Employment group Seek has revealed that psychiatrists, construction project managers and doctors (stock image) typically command salaries of more than $230,000

Mackay in north Queensland had the most first home guarantee recipients in a town with an affordable median house price of $406,005, National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation data showed.

Armadale, in Perth’s outer south east, was second on the list having a mid-point house price of $553,097. 

The satellite city of Logan, south of Brisbane, was in third place in the suburb of Beenleigh, where $643,530 is the median house price.

This put it ahead of East Toowoomba with a mid-point house price of $848,079, making it much more upmarket than the rest of the garden city where median values are under $600,000. 

In Melbourne, Craigieburn in the city’s north made the national top five, having a mid-point house price of $692,266. 

Sydney ‘s mid-point house price of $1.473million is so expensive that someone buying on their own with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit would need to earn $226,621 just to get a loan

First home buyers in Sydney are more likely to be flocking to city’s outer south-west to get on the property ladder, with Moorebank having the most recipients for the guarantee scheme.

Median house prices in this suburb, 36km from the city, are $1.267million but units are cheaper at $733,855, CoreLogic data showed.

Almost two-thirds of first home buyers getting in with the first home guarantee bought a house, suggesting dual-income couples are benefiting.

About 27 per cent bought apartments, which means single people buying on their own were getting units, while just 9 per cent overall bought a townhouse.