Report: Affordability for first time buyers

By: Adam van Lohuizen
Published: February 2015

Report: Affordability for first time buyers

Over the decades since 1969, house prices for first time buyers have increased by 48 times, far out-pacing incomes which have only grown 29 times. If first time buyer house prices and incomes had increased at the same rate over this period, first time buyers would be spending 30-40% less to own their home than what they actually spend today. The strong rise in house prices has meant that first time buyers now need to save much larger deposits and borrow more, relative to their income. In order to afford this, first time buyers are now older, and are earning more than those on an average income.