Everyone knows of Sydney. It’s a popular tourist destination, a popular destination for immigrants, and has even been voted the world’s best city a few years running. But why? What makes Sydney such a magnet for anyone that visits Australia? When we decided to build our home we looked around at a number of different locations across Australia. If there’s ever a good time to make a move, this would be it. As you can see, we decided to stay put in Sydney, even with the outrageous cost of living.

As the world tries to cope with the economic crisis, Australia is dealing with its own problems. A comparison of median house prices with median household incomes in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Britain and the United States found that Australia had the most cities in the “severely unaffordable” category – where house prices are more than five times the median income.

Sure, the cost of living has dropped slightly, aided by the falling petrol prices, but with the unemployment figures rising, and there’s no real relief in sight for the housing market, why do people stay? Why is Sydney somewhere that many people don’t dare leave?

I’ve been living here for just over two years and, compared to the States, life in Sydney (and Australia) has both strong positives and negatives. But really, it’s what you make of it.

So, here’s a few reasons why I believe, it’s worth putting up with Sydney’s high cost of living. (and in no real particular order)

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