Housing affordability a concern for older age brackets as well as first-home buyers

Stamp Duty

Older Australians are more worried than first-home buyers about housing affordability according to research from legal firm Slater and Gordon. 

The researched asked over 2000 people what housing market factors they feared the most.

Interestingly, women were found to be more worried than their male counterparts when it came to housing affordability. 

A third of women said it was their biggest concern compared to one quarter of men. 

Behind affordability, respondents were also largely concerned with borrowing too much and not being able to repay the loan despite interest rates being at record-low levels. 

Other concerns and fears were finding property they actually liked, getting caught by hidden costs of property purchases, possible future interest rate rises, stamp duty costs and dealing with real estate agents. 

In terms of age groups, it was the age bracket between 45 to 54 that were the most concerned about housing affordability, with almost a third of them saying it was their biggest issue. 

This compared to those in the 35 to 44 year age bracket, where around one quarter said affordability was their greatest concern.

Perhaps predictably with their experience and knowledge, it was the over 55s that were the most selective and fussy buyers.

In that age bracket 27 per cent of respondents said finding a property they liked was a concern for them, which was much higher than the 25 to 34 bracket which was just 17 per cent.

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