What if you rent and invest the savings?
Property isn't the only way to grow wealth or invest. What if you took that extra $11,073 each year and put it into a low-maintenance investment product like an exchange traded fund (ETF)? Let's say you invested in an Australian ETF over 5 years with an average return of 7%.
Investing that much per year, at that rate of return, would see you with a total investment worth over $1 million in 30 years.
Of course, there's no guarantee future returns will equal this much on any particular fund (you can learn more about how to measure ETF performance here). But it illustrates how you can put your money to work as an alternative to a mortgage.