I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling quite bombarded by the media about the property market in Australia. It seems that every day there is a new report about  either the rising cost of houses; how hard it is to be a first-home-buyer or how good it could be to purchase an investment property.

According to a recent statement from Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell, “90.8% of first home buyers said getting into the property market was “hard”, with more than 30% labelling it “extremely hard”.

He went on to say -“This statistic, whilst startling, is not altogether surprising. One of the major hurdles facing first home buyers at the moment is saving a sufficient deposit.”

Different lending institutions have different requirements for deposits. Some will require a minimum of ten per cent, whilst others will allow only five per cent.  What that means is that if you wanted to purchase a property for $600,000 then you would need a minimum of $30,000 for a 5% deposit.

In the second quarter of 2016, full-time earnings in Australia averaged $78,832 a year, according to the Living in Australia survey. After deducting your tax and medicare obligations, you would have a take home amount of $60,088 approximately. Check this here

Now, if your ‘Must Haves’ are around $500 per week, (which totals $26,000 per year) you would be left with around $34,000 per year. That’s about $653 per week.

You know what my next question will be…. Where is that money going?

Before you start screaming about needing to pay rent, needing a holiday, updating the car or just plain having a good time – sit down and work out exactly where that money is going.

If you are currently renting, then you may find that your savings will be less that you might like. However, if you have moved back home to live with your parents so as to be able to save some money, then surely your deposit is growing steadily.

I get a bit cranky when I hear about the difficulties that First-Home-Buyers are facing.

There’s no argument that properties are more expensive than ever before but wages are also higher than in the past. Interest rates are the lowest they’ve ever been and there are government incentives in the form of grants and concessions for First-Home-Buyers.

When I read that 90% of first home buyers are finding it hard to buy a property, I say “if it was too easy to get, then it wouldn’t be worth having”. You only appreciate the value of something if you have worked hard to get it.

To my mind, it all comes down to priorities.

Do you want to ‘live the dream’ or live in your dream?

The first step in buying a house is asking yourself what is important to you. What are you prepared to give up to achieve your dream of owning a house of your own?

The second step is sorting out your budget to make sure you can save for your deposit.

 

 

 

©   Carmel McCartin – Budget Bitch

And don’t forget – (The views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Don’t rely on them to make financial decisions; you have to make up your own mind. If you don’t like the content – then either stop reading or send me an email)