How Stickybeak works

The serviceability card answers: “what would a typical mortgage look like in this suburb?” The calculation follows four steps:

1. Median price. We take the most recent median sale price from the NSW Valuer General, filtered to the suburb’s dominant dwelling type (house or unit, determined by ABS Census dwelling-mix data).
2. Loan amount. loan = median_price × 0.80 (assumes a 20% deposit).
3. Monthly repayment. Standard P&I (principal and interest) formula over 30 years at the current Sydney variable owner-occupier rate from the RBA’s Table F6.
4. Repayment-to-income ratio. RTI = (monthly_repayment / monthly_income) × 100 where monthly income is the suburb’s median weekly household income (ABS Census 2021) multiplied by 52/12.

The 30% threshold comes from housing economics: when mortgage repayments exceed 30% of a household’s gross income, the household is considered to be in “housing stress.” This benchmark is used by the ABS, the RBA, and most lenders as a rule-of-thumb affordability ceiling.

Stickybeak uses three verdict labels based on this threshold:

• Within reach (RTI ≤ 30%): repayments are below the stress threshold.
• Tight (30-50%): possible but leaves little room for other costs.
• Stretch (> 50%): typical local incomes would not service this loan.

These verdicts are based on the suburb’s median income, not yours. For a personalised verdict, enter your own deposit and income in the “Your numbers” panel (coming soon).

The eligibility card checks the suburb’s median price against the current price caps for each scheme (FHBAS, FHOG, First Home Guarantee, Help to Buy). These caps are set by the NSW and Commonwealth governments and refresh each July. Stickybeak updates its thresholds within a week of each cap change.

Eligibility is indicative only. Your actual eligibility depends on factors Stickybeak does not know: your citizenship, prior property ownership, income, and the specific property you are buying.

AQI (Air Quality Index) is calculated from pollutant concentrations (PM2.5, PM10, NO&sub2;, O&sub3;, SO&sub2;) reported by NSW DCCEEW monitoring stations. Each suburb is assigned to the nearest station with active data. The AQI value shown is the highest sub-index across all pollutants at that station.

The station distance is disclosed on every air quality card. If the station is more than 5 km away, a proximity notice appears.

ICSEA (Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage) is published by ACARA for every Australian school. The national average is 1000. Higher scores correlate with stronger academic outcomes. Stickybeak shows individual school ICSEA scores and an average for the postcode.

ICSEA is a community-level indicator, not a direct measure of teaching quality. A school with a lower ICSEA may still deliver excellent education.

All data has limits. Medians can be skewed by small sample sizes. Census data is from 2021 and may not reflect recent demographic shifts. Air quality readings from distant stations are approximations. For a full list of caveats, see data limitations.

Nothing on Stickybeak is financial advice. Always consult a licensed mortgage broker or financial adviser before making a purchase decision.