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First Home Buyers Shrug Off Job Fears and Look to Buy Property

First Home Buyers Shrug Off Job Fears and Look to Buy Property: May 27, 2012

First home buyers shrug off job fears and look to buy property


May 2012

First home buyers in Australia are more confident about buying a house now than they were six months ago, however this is yet to translate into action, according to a new national survey.

A survey, called The Commonwealth Bank / Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia Home Finance Index, of 1,447 respondents has found 57 per cent of first home buyers believe it is a good time to buy property because prices are cheap and rates are down.

However servicing a large mortgage remains the primary concern of first home buyers (69.2 per cent), with a great proportion are delaying their purchases due to fears over job redundancies (32.1 per cent).

The survey found the percentage of first time buyers, who save more than 20 per cent of their take home income, rose to 41.3 per cent from 36.2 per cent in September 2011.

Close to two thirds of first home buyers (65.4 per cent) believe that rent is currently too expensive, with 42.4 per cent believing they are trapped in a "rental trap", up from 38.2 per cent six months ago.

While banks still top the list of preferred loan sources amongst first home buyers at 43.2 per cent, mortgage brokers are making up ground with 32.5 per cent preferring to use them.

The proportion of all respondents who thought the Government was doing enough to assist first home buyers dropped to 23.8 per cent from 27.9 per cent in September 2011 - the lowest level since March 2010.

The Commonwealth Bank's Executive General Manager of Third Party Banking, Ms Kathy Cummings, said "First home buyers will be key drivers in the revival of the property market and sentiment appears to be positive.

"In many cases it is cheaper to buy than rent and first home buyers appear to be working productively towards raising the required deposit to get into property, which is a great sign", she concluded.

Source: MFAA