Clever house hunters discover taking your time is a saving grace
Jennifer BlakeNews Corp Australia
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A NEW breed of buyers has entered the property market - with one in five first-home buyers now aged over 40.
Affordability and lifestyle choice is fuelling the trend as property buyers delay purchasing their first homes.
Figures show that, for the first time, older buyers are now challenging the dominance of twenty-somethings.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has tracked first-home buyers across the country since 1995. Its research shows a 7 per cent rise over 10 years in the number of first-home buyers entering the market later in life.
In 2000-01 a quarter of buyers were over 35. In 2009-10 a third of first-home buyers were 35 and older.
"The number of first-home buyers aged over 40 has increased from 17 per cent to 20 per cent, year on year," Mortgage Choice's head of corporate affairs Belinda Williamson said.
"It's definitely a trend, we're seeing a general increase towards people buying later in life."
Research found lifestyle wasn't the only factor delaying a property purchase, with buyers also choosing to wait until they had saved a larger deposit. The survey found more buyers were contributing more than 20 per cent of the house cost as a deposit, avoiding mortgage insurance.
Sixteen per cent contributed over 20 per cent, with a further 25 per cent contributing between 11 and 20 per cent.
Mt Payne said it wasn't just that banks were imposing stricter lending criteria: "Australians are becoming very mortgage-savvy, they are aware of over-extending.
"They're not gambling on capital gains or treating property in a speculative sense."
Real Estate Institute of NSW president Christian Payne said the increase in older buyers could reflect that younger buyers were retreating from the market.
"Across the board we're finding there aren't many first-home buyers out there. The younger ones aren't out there trying to buy. They're saving - because housing is costing more," he said.
Changes to the government's first-home buyer incentive schemes was a contributing factor. Stamp duty discounts now apply for new homes only, and many first-home buyers can't afford to buy new, Mr Payne said.
Christian Beserra is a good example of the trend - after many years travelling and working overseas he returned to Sydney and purchased his first home - in Randwick.
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