Two of the Big Four banks have released reports that suggest that the pandemic has drastically altered how Australians will buy property in the coming years.
Research coming out of CBA suggested that younger Australians are counteracting the ongoing housing affordability crisis by clubbing together with their mates to buy their first home.
Two thirds of respondents to CBA’s survey said that poor affordability had lead to them to consider going in on a place with their friends as opposed to the traditional dynamic of buying with family or domestic partners.
The research found that products such as CBA’s Property Share and fragmented property buying options such as Bricklet were helping non-traditional groupings, such as parents, friends or siblings, to buy property.
NAB has also released researched that revealed that 20% of home buyers are now factoring a home working/studying area and living in the regions into their property buying.
Their study into home buying patterns also suggested that Australians were moving away from cities and home regions and not coming back, with 1 in 10 people in the country having made a permanent switch because of the pandemic.
While the tree changer effect preexists the pandemic, this new data from NAB would suggest that the trend has now calcified into a permanent population shift.
“The pandemic has impacted the lives of millions of Australians, particularly with how and where they want to live. What we have seen as a result is flexible working providing opportunities for people to live wherever they like and still work from home,” said NAB’s executive home ownership, Andy Kerr.
“Without the daily commute, people are looking at the suburbs that haven’t been available in the past as a viable option to actually own a piece of land and build a house.”
“Australians also clearly value lifestyle choices, having that work-life balance and being closer to family. Many of us want to live near a café or supermarket, be able to drop the kids off at school and have access to trains or trams.”
