Bankwest's Home Truths research has revealed Western Australia's young homebuyers are increasingly willing to make sacrifices to their idea of a dream home to overcome cost-of-living pressures and enter the property market.
Bankwest's Home Truths survey collected responses from more than 1700 Australians, with a focus on WA, to better understand the needs, preferences, and attitudes of current and aspiring homeowners.
The results highlighted the willingness of WA's Millennials (27-42) and Gen Z (18-26) to sacrifice property features – and even type – to afford a house, with 78 per cent prepared to do so (up from 67% from the previous survey).
Overall, Western Australians intending to buy a house in the next five years were most willing to make sacrifices to the location to find a cheaper suburb (38%, up from 33%), and buying a smaller property (36%, up from 30%).
However, there were clear divergences from WA and the rest of Australia, as well as the younger generations within the state compared to their more senior house hunting counterparts.
The sacrificing of luxury features, such as a pool or a deck, was key to east coast buyers affording a home (42%, up from 32%), but the willingness to give away those luxuries actually decreased in WA (33%, down from 39%).
But it was a trend driven by WA's older generations, with the state's Gen Z (44%, up from 41%) and Millennials (33%, up from 29%) both stable in their willingness to sacrifice luxury features compared to the previous survey.
Size was the major shift in willingness to sacrifice for WA's aspiring Gen Z homeowners, with 43 per cent (up from 28%) of respondents prepared to buy a smaller property than their preference.
WA's Millennials were more willing to buy in a cheaper suburb to afford a property (39%, up from 36%).
WA's Gen Zs had also significantly shifted their view of the importance of a safe location, with just a third (32%) labelling it as an important feature, falling from 47 per cent previously and compared to 50 per cent of Millennials.
There was also a decrease from the previous Home Truths in the willingness of the state's Gen Z to move from city to country (16%, down from 20%), suggesting the COVID-inspired 'tree change' trend was fading with the pandemic.
Bankwest General Manager Customer, Marketing, and Communications Jodene Murphy said: "Bankwest's Home Truths research gives us an important snapshot of what homebuyers are looking for in a property.
"We consistently see homeownership as important to Australians, regardless of the property market or economic conditions at any given time, and what changes is how aspiring homebuyers adapt to those situations.
"The current heated property market, combined with cost-of-living pressures, has not dented homebuyers' aspirations, but we can see they are becoming more willing to sacrifice certain features to get into their own home.
'The differences between WA and the east is an interesting comparison between the two markets, but WA's young homebuyers are in far different circumstances to older generations, eyeing smaller properties in cheaper suburbs.
"Bankwest strives to be a simple, easy bank for more homeowners across the country, with Home Truths showing the Great Australian Dream is alive and well."
About Bankwest
Bankwest’s vision is to be a simple, easy bank for the Australian homeowner of today and tomorrow, and our purpose is to build a brighter future for all. Bankwest provides personal and everyday banking solutions for customers across Australia. We support customers in doing their banking in the ways that suit them, with innovative digital solutions, an Australia-based 24/7 Contact Centre, a passionate broker community, and our WA branch network. Bankwest is a division of Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL/Australian credit license 234945.
