Sa First Home Buyers Save Less Than 4 Years For Deposit

Embargoed 12:01am Tuesday July 6, 2010

SA first home buyers save less than 4 years for a deposit

Housing affordability has continued to worsen over the past year, with first home buyers in South Australia needing 3.9 years to save for a house deposit, up from 3.2 years.

The second annual Bankwest "First Time Home Buyer Report" also found thousands
of young South Australian residents have been forced to rent or live at home with their parents for an extra eight months, as they struggle to pull together a house deposit.

The research shows a first time buyer couple in SA needs to raise a $72,700 deposit to purchase the median house, and $60,300 to buy a median unit.

In Adelaide, a first time buyer couple would need to save for 4.2 years for a house deposit, translating into a deposit of $80,400. This is up from 3.5 years savings in March 2009, however remains the shortest of all capital cities.

When it comes to units, the time needed to secure a down payment is 3.1 years
again the smallest time of any capital city.

Bankwest Retail Chief Executive, Vittoria Shortt said this is welcome news for
Adelaide residents.

"When compared to the national average of 4.5 years, first time buyers wanting to hop onto the property ladder in Adelaide don't have to wait nearly as long as their counterparts in other capital cities."

The report is part of Bankwest's on-going Financial Indicator Series, and analyses data from 544 local government areas across Australia.

The research examines how long it takes the average first time buyer couple to save for a 20 percent deposit. This is based on setting aside one fifth of their combined pre-tax income annually, and includes available federal and state government first home owners' grants.

"In a quarter of all South Australian local government areas, it takes less than two years to raise a conservative house deposit," said Ms Shortt.

"Despite this promising news, it still takes a first time buyer couple an extra eight months to secure a house deposit in South Australia, compared to this time last year."

Interesting SA facts:

* For a first time buyer to purchase a house in Walkerville, they would need to save for 9.3 years for a deposit the longest in the state.
* This is followed by Burnside, at 8.8 years and Unley, at 8.2 years.
* For a first time buyer to purchase a house in Peterborough, they would need to save for 0.6 years for a deposit the shortest in the state.
* This is followed by Kimba, and Southern Mallee, both at 0.8 years.
* The time taken for first time buyers to raise a unit deposit has risen in all Adelaide LGAs over the past year.

Data for the First Time Buyer Deposit Report is derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Census (2006), the ABS Wage Cost index with house prices from Residex.

Bankwest's researchers analysed local incomes of potential first time buyers
measured by census data on incomes of 25-34 year olds along with local house
and unit prices.

A full list of results for all 544 LGAs across Australia is available in the Bankwest First Time Buyer Report 2010 and at www.bankwest.com.au.

Media enquiries:

Adrian Bradley,
External Communications Manager,
Bankwest,
0427 674 851
[email protected]

Elvina Simpson,
Media Relations Manager,
Bankwest,
0457 532 191
[email protected]

Bankwest is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank (Group). Bankwest is a full service bank which originated in Western Australia in 1895 and services more than one million customers. Bankwest promotes a range of products using cost-effective direct and third party distribution channels, including 24-hour telephone and internet services and mortgage brokers. In WA, Bankwest is a market leader with about one quarter of all bank advances and deposits and an extensive network of branches.

SOURCE: Bankwest