Bankwest First Time Buyer Deposit Report 2016 Introduction This Research Was Prepared by Coredata for Bankwest
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December 2016 Bankwest First Time Buyer Deposit Report 2016 The eighth annual Bankwest First Time Buyer Deposit Report tracks the time it would take for first time buyers to save a deposit in 465 local government areas (LGAs) across Australia over the five years to June 2016. The report quantifies how long it would take a first time buyer to save a 20% deposit based on local incomes and local house prices and the level of the First Home Owners Grant, where available, by state. Data has been sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2011 Census, the ABS Wage Price Index, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and Residex. Deposit savings times have been calculated on the basis of a first time buyer couple setting aside 20% of their combined pre-tax income annually. The calculation assumes the savings are deposited into an online savings account each month and earn interest on this basis. This research was prepared by CoreData for Bankwest. Introduction 2 • There are less than half as many first time buyers (FTBs) in Australia in 2016 (13.4%) as a proportion of total buyers than in 2009 (28.8%), as house price growth outstrips wage growth, locking many FTBs out of the market. • It is taking Australian FTB couples longer to save a deposit on a median priced house in every state and territory except WA compared to last year. • Australian FTB couples need to save for an average of 4.4 years for a deposit on a median priced house, on par with 4.2 years in the 12 months to June 2015. • In Sydney, FTB couples need to save for an average of 8.4 years for a deposit on a median priced house, six months longer than last year and the longest required savings time nationwide. First time buyer deposit trends by state Savings Years to save Years to save Years to save 20% needed for 20% house 20% house Change Change over State house deposit 20% house deposit deposit over 1 year 5 years (June 2015) deposit (June 2016) (June 2011) (June 2016) ACT Houses 4.3 4.1 4.3 0.2 0.0 $117,600 NSW Houses 5.7 5.3 4.3 0.4 1.4 $138,600 NT Houses 4.3 3.4 4.4 0.9 -0.1 $102,000 QLD Houses 4.0 3.9 3.9 0.1 0.1 $92,800 SA Houses 3.6 3.3 3.7 0.3 -0.1 $78,700 TAS Houses 2.8 2.8 3.0 0.0 -0.2 $57,200 VIC Houses 4.7 4.4 4.4 0.3 0.3 $108,900 WA Houses 3.5 3.6 3.7 -0.1 -0.2 $94,400 Australian Houses 4.4 4.2 3.9 0.2 0.5 $103,600 Australian FTB couples need to save for 4.4 years for a median priced house The eighth Bankwest First Time Buyer Report reveals that the average Australian FTB couple requires 4.4 years to raise a 20% deposit to buy a median priced house, two months longer than last year. This is based on an average combined salary of $116,0721 for two people aged 25-34, saving 20% of their pre-tax income in a high interest online savings account. Australian FTB couples need an average of $103,600 in savings to put down a deposit on their first house in 2016, based on a median house value of $518,000 2 nationally. Although Australia’s median house value grew by 3.9% in the 12 months to June 2016, this was slower than 2015’s growth of 6.3%. Furthermore, variable-lending rates on owner-occupier housing loans have continued to fall to 5.25%3 and are notably lower than the 10-year average rate of 6.93%. A lower housing mortgage rate allows prospective home owners to service their loan quicker, increasing the attractiveness of buying a home. However, a lower loan rate generally goes hand in hand with a lower return on savings accounts, which could negatively influence the home buying decision. House 1 ABS 6345 Wage Price Index data, June, 2016 (editor’s notes for more details on calculation) 2 Residex: Median Value and Sale Count Data, ending June 30 2016 3 RBA Indicator Lending Rates, August 2016 3 The average online savings account rate over the last 12 months is 1.78% ,4 do wn from 2.31% the previous year and well below the 10-year average of 4.16%. A lower savings rate increases the time needed to reach the required deposit amount, illustrating the countervailing influences that interest rates have on first time buyers. NSW takes out the unenviable title of the state in which it takes longest to save the deposit required for a median priced house, with the average FTB couple requiring 5.7 years to save $138,600. This is an increase of five months compared with last year and is the second largest increase nationwide behind the Northern Territory. Victoria comes in second, with an average savings time of 4.7 years, up slightly from 4.4 years in 2015. It takes more than four years for the average FTB couple to save for a deposit in both of the territories, with the average ACT and Northern Territory FTB couple requiring 4.3 years to save, compared with 4.1 years and 3.4 years respectively in 2015. The required savings time for a deposit on a median priced house is shortest for Tasmanian FTB couples (2.8 years, unchanged compared with 2015). The savings time required for the average FTB couple in the Northern Territory increased by almost a year (0.9 years) in the 12 months to June 2016, to 4.3 years from 3.4 years in 2015. The primary driver of the increase was the removal of the First Home Owner’s Grant for established homes in early 2015, which meant Northern Territory FTB couples no longer had access to the grant of between $12,000 and $25,000 for homes valued under $600,000. 5 Housing sales in the Northern Territory fell by 43.0% over the 12 months to June 2016 , while non FTB housing sales fell by only 5.3% over the same period, suggesting that FTBs are feeling the pinch of the removal of the grant. First time buyer deposit trends in capital cities Years to save Years to save Years to save Savings needed 20% house 20% house 20% house Change over Change over 5 for 20% house LGA Name deposit deposit deposit 1 year years deposit (June 2016) (June 2015) (June 2011) (June 2016) Adelaide Houses 4.0 3.6 4.0 0.4 0.0 $88,500 Australian Capital 4.3 4.1 4.3 0.2 0.0 $117,600 Territory Houses Brisbane Houses 4.3 4.1 4.1 0.2 0.2 $101,800 Darwin Houses 4.3 3.6 4.5 0.7 -0.2 $106,700 Hobart Houses 3.8 3.4 3.7 0.4 0.1 $78,100 Melbourne Houses 6.2 5.8 5.4 0.4 0.8 $148,600 Perth Houses 3.8 3.8 3.9 0.0 -0.1 $101,300 Sydney Houses 8.4 7.9 5.8 0.5 2.6 $214,600 Capital cities average 4.9 4.5 4.5 0.4 0.4 $119,650 FTB couples in Sydney need to save for more than eight years for first house Overall, the average savings time required for an FTB couple to buy a median priced house in the capital cities has increased to 4.9 years from 4.5 years in 2015. The average required savings time has increased in all capital cities to varying degrees, except in Perth, where it remains unchanged. It now takes the average Sydney FTB couple 8.4 years to save a $214,600 deposit on a median priced house, up from 7.9 years in 2015. This is largely driven by an 8.0% increase in the median house value in Sydney of $79,500 for the 12 months to June 2016, with wage growth failing to keep up at 2.2%6 - the lowest growth rate in five years. 4 House RBA Retail Deposit and Interest Rates, August 2016-11-15 5 ABS 5609: 12 Month weighted average of FTB housing sales to June 2016 6 ABS 6345 Wage Price Index 4 Melbourne trails Sydney, with the average required savings time for FTB couples sitting at 6.2 years, up slightly from 5.8 years in 2015. Hobart and Perth are the capital cities with the shortest time needed for first time buyer couples to save for a deposit on a median priced home (both 3.8 years), although savings time in Hobart has increased slightly from 3.4 years in 2015. The extent of Sydney’s residential property market growth is illustrated by the fact that most (53%) Local Government Areas (LGAs) now require the average FTB couple to save for more than 10 years for a deposit on a median priced house, up from 44% in 2015. This proportion is also considerably higher than in Melbourne, where only 16% of LGAs require the average FTB couple to save for more than 10 years. At the other extreme, Perth is the only capital city where the average required savings time for a house has not increased year-on-year (3.8 years, unchanged compared with last year), likely driven by a $19,000 fall in the median house value in 2016.