If the Heelers moved ‘out west’ to WA, where could they afford live?

In a 2024 episode of Bluey, the Heeler family consider moving from their three-bedroom Queenslander home in Brisbane “out west”.

Although Perth isn’t specifically mentioned, let’s say they did move to Perth – where could they afford to live in today’s market?

For those less familiar with the Australian hit TV show Bluey than I, the Heeler family breadwinners are Bandit, an archaeologist, and Chilli, who works in airport security part-time. Let’s imagine they had moved to Perth in 2024, in which suburbs could afford they to live?

Taking average values for what an archaeologist and airport security officer would earn annually ($165,000 in 2024) and then considering what property prices would be affordable to rent or buy – categorised as 30 per cent of take-home pay, a commonly used affordability threshold, we arrive at a sale price of $760,000 and a weekly rental price of $952.

This is analysed against publicly available data from realestate.com.au on 12-month median three-bedroom home sale and rental prices.

Of 302 suburbs for which we had the data in 2024, the Heeler family would be able to afford to purchase a three-bedroom home in just under half (149).

If the family were to rent, they could afford considerably more options with 276 suburbs affordable.

These houses won’t all be in the iconic Queenslander style, and mostly won’t have the four bathrooms the Heelers have canonically, but the options are there.

Now, what if the Heelers decided to move in 2026, how much will their options have changed?

Between the two periods, the family will have a slightly higher income and could afford a property up to $800,000 and weekly rental of $1154. That might sound like a lot of “dollarbucks”, but housing costs have changed significantly in the past two years.

Of the 149 suburbs that were affordable in 2024, Bluey’s family have been priced out of 99, leaving just 50 affordable – oh biscuits!

The Heelers are priced out from Yangebup to Rockingham, leaving just 20 suburbs affordable north of the river and 30 south. Given the location of Perth’s airports, it is a fair assumption that the Heelers will be choosing from the 30 suburbs in the south.

The reality is likely even worse for the Heelers as how much they can borrow would be significantly impacted by having two dependents, Bluey and Bingo.

The Heelers might be a fictional family, but many real families will also have been priced out of owning a home in the vast majority of Perth suburbs and forced into renting long-term.

Addressing housing affordability is an important goal for successive governments but given the rapid escalation in recent years and more families being pushed into renting long-term it is important for continued consideration of policy options to improve rental affordability and security in WA.

We have already seen improving rights in WA including bans on rent bidding and limits on rent rises.

However, New South Wales and Victoria have gone further, introducing reforms restricting landlords’ abilities to end tenancies without specified grounds giving tenants more security and certainty about their home.

WA has announced similar reforms, although these are yet to be legislated and come into effect.