Queenslanders Willing to Forgo the Holiday to Buy First Home

Despite the national housing market softening and lending restrictions becoming tighter, the struggle to get onto the property ladder is still a struggle for many.

Westpac’s 2018 Home Ownership Report found that two in five home buyers nationally are willing to get a second job or work overtime to get onto the property ladder, with saving for a deposit remaining the main hurdle for achieve the dream.

But the survey found Queenslanders to be less willing put in the extra hours as 33 per cent were prepared to take up a new source of income to achieve the Aussie Dream, compared to 45 per cent nation-wide.

The new research has found that when saving for a new home, 56 per cent of Queenslanders would prefer to forgo a holiday, in comparison to the 52% nation-wide.

Westpac’s head of home ownership, Lauren Fine said Queenslander’s may be willing to forgo the holiday due to the state’s beautiful weather.

The survey also found that nearly 60 per cent of Queensland’s aspiring home owners are feeling more positive about the housing market than they were 12 months ago. It also found that 65% believe they are closer to buying a home than they were this time last year.

‘The softening of the market has helped’, Ms Fine said.

“It’s suddenly helped them realise there is actually a potential opportunity to get in to the market.

“As prices come down, so do all the costs associated with that transaction, and it also makes it more accessible from a government grant perspective because now they might be in an eligible price range when they weren’t before,” she said.

However researchers at Grattan Institute say that while the softening property market and tighter lending restrictions might be pushing investors out, they’re not helping first home buyers.

Grattan Institute wants all states and territories to follow the lead of the ACT and replace stamp duties with broad-based property taxes in the hope of improving home ownership numbers.

The Queensland Government isn’t just hearing it from Grattan Institute either.

Master Builders Queensland is calling on the sunshine state’s Government to reinstate the boost to the First Home Owners’ Grant, from $15,000 to $20,000, in regional Queensland.

These calls for change come at the same time as recent figures from Queensland home builder Porter Davis revealing that 46 per cent of would-be home buyers in the market right now are looking to purchase their first property.

Porter Davis’ figures also indicate that more than half them would consider moving more than 20kms from where they currently live to secure their first home.

Porter Davis Queensland marketing manager, Kelly Jones said she believed now was the time for first home buyers to break into Queensland’s housing market.

“The sunshine state has traditionally been seen as more affordable than New South Wales and Victoria, but with population growth and reductions to the First Home Owners Grant — matched with improving economic conditions — affordability is decreasing,” Ms Jones said.

“We also recognise that changes to lending as well as credit constraints will continue to be a barrier for first home buyers,” she said.