Federal government initiatives and the impact on time to save for an entry-priced home
“But I 100 per cent think Brisbane is still affordable when you compare the money they earn to the purchase price … that’s why so many people moved to Brisbane. There’s value here.”
Roxanne Paterson of Ray White Bracken Ridge said while the stars were indeed aligning for local first-home buyers, they were facing incredible challenges due to increased interest from interstate and rising house prices.
“What’s frustrating for them in one regard is when buyer’s agents are out in force as well as investors – they are getting thrown into some pretty significant competition,” Ms Paterson said.
“And they can’t just offer an extra $30,000, but they are in competition with clients who have money at their fingertips.”
In Bracken Ridge, a suburb that Ms Paterson said had always been a hotspot for first-home buyers, the sizzling market sent entry-level house prices soaring over the past 12 months, with $500,000 houses now fetching $100,000 more.
“Here we are that last stop before the end of Brisbane City Council, so we do have a lot of first-home buyers coming in … but now they are having to stretch themselves or go further out for a house. That said, I think they are still giving it a red-hot go,” Ms Paterson said.
It was that enticing melting pot of grants and the inability to travel that inspired Sarah Bauer and Luke Bishop to buy a three-bedroom house on a 600-square-metre block in Arana Hills for $654,000 through Ms Paterson just a week ago.
“We spent the majority of 2020 really knuckling down because we wanted to go into this process with no debt … and COVID helped 100 per cent because we had two overseas trips planned for last year. I mean, my Uber Eats bill probably went up, but in terms of not being able to travel and not go places meant we could save much more,” Ms Bauer said.
“Then we started looking seriously in January … and to be honest we got in as it started to get super hectic and the first house that we put an offer on, we actually offered $30,000 over the listing price, but it sold for $60,000 more, so straight away we thought we were so out of our league,” Ms Bauer said.
“So, we took a step back and had to look at what suburbs were taking off and which ones were still affordable because Brisbane is hectic. We were both set on the north side of Brisbane, and we didn’t want to go further than 15 kilometres from the city as we work there … but then as we got knocked back, we had to look further out.
“The third house we put an offer on (in Arana Hills) was listed at $589,000, and we offered $650,000, and then it sold for $800,000 … there were 46 offers on that one, so you’re just competing with ridiculous offers.”
But while the couple, who spent a solid year saving to boost their own personal pot, confessed the constant knocks almost forced them to step back, it was fear of missing out that kept them in the game.
“We wanted to get our foot in the door, especially if this was going to be the lowest it would be in a while and in the end, I think we were quite lucky,” Ms Bauer said.
Across Greater Brisbane, first-home buyers in Springwood-Kingston enjoyed the biggest cut on time spent saving for a house, where it is now taking 14 months less than a year ago to save a 20 per cent deposit. At the other end of the spectrum, couples looking to buy their first house in Brisbane Inner are facing an extra 10 months of savings time, where a 20 per cent deposit on the median house price is now $182,000.
Article Source: www.domain.com.au