Young Aussies still believe in home ownership dream

Despite growing affordability challenges, research conducted by Bankwest showed that Millennials are among the most optimistic age groups to believe that home ownership is achievable for them.

According to the survey results, 6.3 per cent of the surveyed Australian Millennials (aged 23 to 38) said they believe home ownership is “easily achievable”, while an additional 25.7 per cent of that age bracket said home ownership is achievable but challenging to achieve.

In contrast, 0.0 per cent of respondents from Gen X (aged 39 to 54) said they believe home ownership is “easily achievable”, and 10.5 per cent said it is achievable yet challenging.

The research also showed that 46.6 per cent of Millennials believe that the Great Australian Dream of home ownership still exists, the highest level of any other age group.

According to the survey, 43.0 per cent of Baby Boomers (aged 54 to 73) believe in the aspiration of home ownership still exists, while 36.5 per cent of Gen X respondents stated the same.

More than half of Millennial respondents also said they were willing to make sacrifices in order to make their Aussie Dream a reality, with 57.7 per cent stating they would be willing to forgo “little luxuries”, including takeaway coffees and lunches, and 56.0 per cent stating they would give up experiences such as holidays in order to get themselves onto the property ladder.

However, a larger proportion of their older counterparts were more willing to go without experiences or little luxuries in order to enter the housing market.

When it came to family and independence, however, Millennials were the most willing to compromise; 27.1 per cent of Millennials stated they would be willing to put off having children until they could secure the purchase of a family home – the largest proportion of all the age groups – while 27.8 per cent said they would sacrifice their independence and live with parents and family for the sake of home ownership.

And yet, over 80 per cent of the younger generation admitted that they only had a “rough idea” or “no real idea” on how much they would need to save for a full deposit on a home loan, compared with 73.8 per cent of Gen X and 72.7 per cent of Baby Boomers.

Moreover, less than a fifth (19.9 per cent) of the younger generation said they knew exactly how much they would need for home deposit when they started saving, compared with more than a quarter of the older generations.

The older generations also appeared to be better able to save for a deposit – with 20.1 per cent of Millennials saying they had a savings plan but were unable to stick to it (compared with 12.4 per cent of Gen X respondents and just 4.9 per cent of Baby Boomers).

Millennials were also the least likely to have “made a savings plan and stuck to it” in order to save their deposit (41.3 per cent) and to have put away money where they could.

Commenting on the survey, Bankwest general manager personal and third-party banking Donna Dalby said the results painted a “very different picture” of young Australians to the one that is typically conjured.

“This is not a bunch of carefree kids ignoring the future for an indulgent moment,” she said.

“This is a group of people who have financial goals they want to achieve and are willing to sacrifice big to do that,” Ms Dalby said.

“Home ownership may be a daunting prospect for some aspiring home owners, but we know there are options available to those who are willing to make choices or trade-offs.

“Owning your own home is a key moment in life, and it’s important we do all we can to make that process as simple and transparent as possible and help customers achieve their dream.”

[Related: FHBs flock to market in December]