We were recently intrigued by a property insight from Tarric Brooker, a freelance journalist and social commentator who penned a piece for news.com.au on the property boom being a lie post-pandemic.

As we all know, since the virus hit Australia well over a year ago now, the real estate scene has been up and down like your footy team’s form with various views on the overall state of the market coming forward.

Then record-low interest rates and government stimulus packages stepped in to assist both buyers and vendors to boot, and interestingly, property prices are now growing at the fastest rate since the late 1980s – yet Brooker believes that all is not what it seems.

Brooker reports that just 8 per cent of first home buyers were receiving support from their parents in March 2020, then just six months later comments that “more than half of all first home buyers were relying on help from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ to achieve their dream of home ownership”. This has now escalated to more than 60 per cent we learn from Digital Finance Analytics’ latest figures. 

The result? An army of “cashed-up” parental-supported buyers is on the march. According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of this demographic purchasing properties has risen by an incredible 93.8 per cent – with a staggering 700% increase in first home buyers being provided with support from their folks. 

Whichever way you interpret these assorted pieces of data, it certainly indicates a trend of a higher level of parental involvement in order for the younger generation to enter the property market. 

In many instances, parental support is due to the high cost of living, which prevents home buyers, particularly their offspring, from saving the large amount required to have a housing loan application approved. 

DFA principal, Martin North, does state that first home buyers being supported by ‘The Bank of Mum and Dad’ run the risk of “defaulting on their loan within five years compared with a more independently-minded first home buyer because some haven’t had the long-term experience of saving”.

Based on this, parents may need to continue supporting, encouraging, and ensuring their children can meet their financial commitment of home ownership as they face unknown paths.

So, it’s a good time to be in the market, and your selection of an agent is paramount! We can assist you in this regard. 

Given the market's current trends, it can be tempting to want to put your selling price up way higher to capitalise, but remember that due diligence still trumps everything. Thrive can show you how to achieve the results you deserve by following our 7-Step Process. 

Doing so should actually bring about a better result in vendors’ pockets than if one simply focused on increasing the asking price, and that was all.

Contact your advocate at Thrive for a free discussion to find out more on this today!