A third of Australians wait forty years to buy first house
If you think the world has gone crazy well check out Australia where house price inflation and huge debts have resulted in about a third of the population not expecting to afford their first house until they’re forty years old. For those in the UK (especially) London this may not seem to be a surprise.
The dream of owning a home is slipping further from reach of many Australians.
A survey shows more than a quarter of potential mortgagees will be in their forties or older before they can lay claim to their own piece of bricks and mortar.
The survey, released today by mortgage broker Mortgage Choice, showed 28 per cent of Australians will be 41 years or older when they buy their first home.
Mortgage Choice national manager of corporate affairs Warren O’Rourke said the research provided a fascinating insight into the lives and mindsets of upcoming first homebuyers.
“With housing affordability at a low, we knew it would be intriguing to uncover the demographics and inclinations of today’s Australian first homebuyer to be,” Mr O’Rourke said.
“Some of the results were not anticipated and others serve to strengthen our picture of the typical person or couple and their determination to buy their own piece of this country – the great Australian dream.”
The online survey asked a range of questions of 1003 Australians who planned to purchase within the next five years.
Of those surveyed, 12 per cent intended to buy within the next six months, 25 per cent within 12 months, 34 per cent within two years and 29 per cent within five years.
The greatest concern most respondents had about buying a home was not being able to afford repayments if interest rates were to rise (41 per cent), while the length of time required to pay off a loan (16 per cent), and sacrificing lifestyle to pay off a mortgage (15 per cent) were also high on the list of concerns.
Mortgage Choice said the discovery that 28 per cent of first homebuyers would be 41 years of age or older when they finally bought a home was possibly the most curious of the survey results.
“Granted, 21 per cent will be 26-30 years at time of planned purchase and 19 per cent will be 31-35 years, what we tend to think of as the average first homebuyer age bracket.
“But another 15 per cent will be 36-40 years, 18 per cent will be aged 41-50 years and, astonishing for some, 10 per cent will be over 50 years of age.”
Mortgage Choice said South Australia had the biggest proportion of older potential buyers, with 33 per cent from that state saying they would be over 41 years of age.
“This is perhaps a result of older tree-changers migrating to the city of churches to finally buy a home because property is cheaper on average there than in most other states,” Mortgage Choice said.
“It is a long time to wait to buy your first home, but many people have different priorities in life,” Mr O’Rourke said.
“For some, career, investing in shares, or buying a holiday or living a large part of life without budgeting are more important than owning their own home,” he said.
NSW and South Australia had just under 20 per cent of respondents saying they will be aged over 40 when they buy their first home, while the most prevalent age bracket for home buying for any state was the 26 to 30 years group.