Perth has lost its spot as the country’s top personal net wealth city to Sydney as a result of the end of the mining boom, according to Roy Morgan.
The firm’s latest research found Sydney has taken the top spot with an average net wealth of $570,000 in 2019. This was followed by Melbourne at $491,000, ACT at $441,000, Perth at $358,000, Adelaide at $356,000, Hobart at $338,000, and Brisbane at $327,000.
This was a stark turnaround since 2007 when Perth was ranked highest for average net wealth at $338,000. It was followed by ACT at $329,000, Sydney at $292,000, Melbourne at $268,000, Brisbane at $264,000, Hobart at $242,000, and Adelaide at $223,000.
Average Personal Net Wealth in Australia – 2007 cf. 2019
Roy Morgan chief executive, Michele Levine, said although the overall net wealth per capita in Australia had a strong recovery from the global financial crisis, up 59.7 per cent since 2007, not all capital cities and country areas had benefited equally.
“The gains in average net wealth across Australia range from a high of 95 per cent for Sydney, down to zero for country WA and six per cent for Perth,” she said.
“These wide variations in growth rates have a lot to do with real estate prices where Sydney and Melbourne have generally shown the greatest increases. Evidence for the impact of this is that there is a much higher proportion of personal wealth in NSW held in owner occupied homes (52.9 per cent), compared to some other lower value States such as SA where it is only 42.9 per cent and 46.1 per cent in WA.”
Levine noted that Perth and country Western Australia’s wealth in 2007 was due to the increased housing prices and economic activity associated with the mining boom.
“Understanding these major regional differences and long-term trends in net wealth levels and asset composition across Australia presents valuable insights into how wealth is distributed in Australia that are in addition to the normal socio-economic factors that impact wealth,” Levine said.
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