While the pace of rental growth has eased in many cities, past increases mean there are still locations where a weekly mortgage repayment is cheaper than weekly rents.

Analysis from Ubank shows there are ten Sydney suburbs, all unit markets, where residents were financially better off buying. In Melbourne, there are 12 suburbs and in Brisbane, 21 – all unit markets. The analysis shows it is cheaper to buy than rent in 7.7% of the suburbs analysed, and almost one in five suburbs had median mortgage repayments within $100 a week of the median rent.

As is to be expected, some of the biggest gaps in buying and renting are in locations where workforces are transient, such as mining towns in Western Australia. But the unit markets uncovered by the analysis as a whole are in capital city markets, such as Docklands, where it is $70 a week cheaper to buy. Ubank chief home lending officer, Ray Jokhan, says customers are telling them affordability and cost of living is front of mind and they are looking at how to reduce repayments.