First home buyers can save up to $60,000 by building their own: Research

First home buyers can save up to $60,000 by building their own: Research
Staff ReporterDecember 7, 2020

Building a home can be substantially cheaper for first home buyers than buying one amid the trend that shows home building is at its highest in recent history, says new research by property ‘matchmaking’ service Houseandland.com.au. 

The study, conducted in the last month, comes at a time when potential first home owners are looking to take advantage of concessionally taxed deposits within superannuation as part of the 2017/18 budget. 

The government has provisioned topping of the superannuation savings by $30,000 which can then be used towards a home deposit in a move to encourage first home buyers. 

Figures from houseandland.com.au show that building a home is on average 13.9% more affordable than buying a move-in-ready home ($361,096 and $419,400 respectively), whilst house and land packages can produce an 11.1% saving.

The report also found that a quarter (25%) of consumers intending to buy their first home within the next five years will build their own home. Amongst these first time home builders, almost three quarters (74%) would build for reasons relating to personalisation and more than 2 in 5 (44%) for reasons surrounding the ability to be creative. 

In fact, 4 in 5 (79%) home owners and intending first home buyers alike, agree that building their own home would let them see their dreams come true, led by Gen Y at a high 84%. 

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Click to enlarge

 

Dean Kyros, founder of Houseandland.com.au, also said that home building was at its highest in recent times.

“Overall, the proportion of Home Builders is currently at its highest point in recent history. 35% of those who bought a home in the past 2 years are Home Builders. This is higher than 2-4 years ago (20%), 5-9 years ago (27%) and 10-19 years ago (18%),” he said.

“With property market prices increasing, it’s not surprising first home buyers are increasingly looking to more economical means of creating their dream home. By comparing house design, land for sale and land estate, as well as fixed-price house and land packages, first home buyers can achieve significant savings through building, all whilst customising their home to their personalised preferences,” says Kyros. 

Houseandland.com.au connects potential buyers with current house designs and recently said its new technology was an industry first. 

Houseandland.com.au also revealed that 84% of Gen Y home owners and intending first home buyers are turning to software to find their ideal property.

It’s no surprise then that businesses are turning to algorithms to meet the growing demand in tailored purchasing, with three quarters (73%) of home buyers and builders alike using online platforms to lead their new home purchase, whilst 23% consider display homes a thing of the past, Houseandland.com.au said.

The report was conducted by Lonergan Research on behalf of houseandland.com.au in accordance with ISO20252 standard. 1,097 Home Owners and Intending First Home Buyers were surveyed between 28th June and 3rd July 2017. Surveys were distributed throughout Australia including both capital city and non-capital city areas. After interviewing, data was weighted to the latest population estimates sourced from the ABS. 

 

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