2. More parents paying for a 5-10% deposit and/or stamp duty which allows their kids to simply service the monthly mortgage. Given the current lowest interest rates in recorded history, these mortgage repayments are often similar or less than monthly rental payments
3. The ‘deposit gap’ continues to widen given increasing home prices and the general cost of living forcing more people to rent, even though loan serviceability is not an issue, many are simply chasing this ever expanding deposit gap & the untenable ability to save for the deposit and stamp duty, which are both required in ‘post tax’ dollars
4. More 1st home buyers are ‘rent-vesting’ i.e buying an investment property to take advantage of negative gearing and then paying rent themselves to occupy a property
5. Both 1st home buyers & all buyers in general are widening their search geographically given the burgeoning ‘urban sprawl’. It was only a few years ago many buyers would be quite specific with their criteria, for example about buying in Coogee or Bronte only and now will be satisfied with as far south as Matraville or Little Bay
6. It’s very common for ‘empty nesters’ to sell the family home as to downsize both in terms of space & price for the purpose of providing their adult children substantial funds for a deposit on a home
7. The increase in interest for duplexes & dual occupancies, whereby older parents live in one residence and their adult children plus their own family living in the other
8. Self managed superannuation funds are an appealing vehicle to purchase investment property due to its tax benefits not attracting capital gains tax & the adjustment in LVR’s (Loan to Value Ratio) by many banks. This may create a competitive advantage when competing against a first home buyer
9. There are thousands of ex-pat Australians returning home permanently with decent salaries and/or on-line businesses, usually spent on overseas real estate or goods & services, now to be spent on east coast Australian real estate & boosting our retail & service sectors, given our country’s political stability & superior health system. This has created higher than usual buyer demand
10. Covid has literally been a ‘1 in a 100 year’ black swan global event that has changed the world forever. Property buyers more than ever have an insatiable appetite for larger entertaining areas, a work or zoom room & better security. This has created what can be facetiously known as ‘Covid property tax’