8 in 10 young Aussies prepared to sacrifice their dream home

“The current heated property market, combined with cost-of-living pressures, has not dented home buyers’ aspirations, but we can see they are becoming more willing to sacrifice certain features to get into their own home,” Jodene Murphy, general manager of customer, marketing, and communications at Bankwest, said.

The survey, which focused on West Australians in particular, found that the state’s Gen Z aspiring buyers (aged 18-26) were most willing to compromise on size, with 48 per cent of respondents prepared to buy a smaller property than they would have preferred.

West Australian Millennials (aged 27-42) were most willing to compromise on location, with 39 per cent stating they were prepared to buy in a cheaper suburb than their initial choice.

In addition, 68 per cent of Gen Z and 50 per cent of Millennials in Western Australia were prepared to compromise on a suburb’s safety, stating that it was not an important feature of a future home.

On the east coast, four in 10 buyers stated they were prepared to sacrifice luxury features like a pool or deck in order to afford a property, compared to 33 per cent of West Australians.

Murphy said: “We consistently see homeownership as important to Australians, regardless of the property market or economic conditions at any given time, and what changes is how aspiring home owners adapt to those situations.”

“The differences between WA and the east is an interesting comparison between the two markets, but WA’s young home buyers are in far different circumstances to older generations, eyeing smaller properties in cheaper suburbs.”

She concluded that Home Truths demonstrated that “the Great Australian Dream is alive and well”.