In 2014 research revealed that the average age of first home buyers has risen into the 30s. This trend has continued into through-out 2015 and ’16.
A report carried out by realestateview.com.au shows that over 60 per cent of first home buyers choose to get married and have children before they can afford to buy a home. On Monday, the National Association Estate Agents reported that property sales to 18-30 year old buyers made up just three per cent of total recorded sales.
Realestateview.com.au’s Petra Sprekos told Radio National’s business editor Sheryle Bagwell that 57 per cent of first home buyers are currently in their 30s and 40s. The website’s research revealed that more than half of the first home buyers are aged between 30 and 49 years old and that almost a quarter of people prefer renting to buying. Ms Sprekos also mentioned that the main reason why this age group is not prepared to get into the property market is affordability. Plus, about a third of them “actually want a more flexible lifestyle.”
Mark Hayward, the National Association Estate Agents’ managing director said that young people’s inability to buy a house before the age of thirty is “concerning.” According to the report, almost nine in ten homebuyers purchased a property in couples, while only seven per cent bought alone.