A top real estate expert is standing by his controversial comments on the housing market.

Malcolm Gunning, the president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, said on ABC’s 7.30 last night while it was an unpopular position, renters in the major cities had options.

“Do the hard yards. Maybe even, God forbid, get two jobs,” he said.

On 3AW Drive today, Mr Gunning, who is also a property agent, said he was speaking to tenants in inner Sydney and inner Melbourne for what he calls the ‘Manhattan effect’.

“We’ve got this great competition to live somewhere within close proximity to the CBD,” he said.

“You’ve got competition for property and rental property, driving the prices up.

“If you are going to live there, it’s a bit like what Joe Hockey said a few years back, if you’re going to live near the city, you probably need a good job.”

He said a lot of immigrants settling in Sydney and Melbourne “work really hard” and had the right idea of getting into the housing market.

“They buy in the outer suburbs and work their way in,” he said.

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Photo: ABC