Australia: High petrol prices hitting outer suburbs

The price of an affordable house in the outer suburbs for some is having to spend more than they can afford on the soaring cost of fuel, experts say.

As petrol prices close in on $2 a litre, the mounting fuel bill has made the decision to live further from the central business district (CBD) a financially painful one for those that commute by car.


For those who made the switch from the inner city, revisiting that choice is now very difficult, given high interest rates, in some cases stagnant house prices and fierce competition for property close to the CBD.

Dr Bob Birrell, a director at the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University, said the price of property in the middle and inner suburbs was now out of reach for many.

“Most of them will simply have to adjust to the higher petrol price because they really don’t have any other alternative,” Dr Birrell said this week.

The Age