Young Aussies crack Australia’s impossible property market

BUYING your own home is the dream for most young, Aussie couples. And while the reality of it is something else entirely — newlyweds Kylie and Candice have nudged their way into the market.

BUYING your own home is the dream for most young, Australian couples. Yet the reality of it is something else entirely.

With Aussie house prices considered some of the most expensive in the world the dream is unattainable for the majority of us.

The Bank for International Settlements last year named Australia as the second most expensive place to buy a home in the world, with Melbourne and Sydney housing prices an estimated 60 per cent over what they should be.

They’re depressing statistics and when it’s financially easier to buy a nine-bedroom chateau in France than a two-bedroom unit in Maroubra, it’s easy to see why.

But it is possible, according to some first time homeowners.

Married couple Kylie and Candice Dunne bought their first home in October last year: a two-bedroom, one bathroom property in the Sydney suburb of Arncliffe.

The two young professionals — Kylie working as a project manager and Candice in finance — set themselves a timeline and financial goal to buy their own home but — as many buyers soon learn — it’s almost impossible for everything to go to plan.

“I always wanted to buy my own home because I was an army brat and my family never had a permanent house,” says Kylie, 27.

Kylie and Candice bought their first home in Sydney’s inner west last year.

Candice, 26, adds: “We never began to seriously think about it until we moved to Sydney and combined our finances and started to set a savings goal.”

The first step was to clear their debts and give themselves a clean slate when stepping into the property market: that meant ticking off car loans and credit cards.

“We kept setting ourselves timelines and changing it,” says Candice, who adds that their first goal was within a year but they moved it back.

“I would put my bonuses away and we’d add little bits here and there when we could.”

Their next step was finding a home that they could afford and the couple were quick to realise that wasn’t in the city.

After renting in the inner west for years, they broadened their horizons to look at more affordable suburbs for their price range.

“We moved to Arncliffe to see if we liked it before buying because we knew we just couldn’t afford to in the city,” says Candice.

“We tried living out there first and then we decided to get married, which pushed our financial goal back a bit further.”

The pair initially got lucky in their home hunt, falling in love with the first property they found.

“We bought the first one we looked at,” laughs Kylie, before Candice adds: “We literally haven’t looked at another house.”

From there things got a little trickier, with the Dunnes having issues with their original broker and ending up hiring another one.

“The part that was hard was we got a really bad broker to start off with,” says Candice.

“Because we were new and young he did try to take advantage of our situation. We ended up hiring two brokers after the first one fell through … we had been through so much leading up to it.”

The pair’s wedding pushed their financial goals back.

In hindsight, Kylie says that should have relied more heavily on their community of friends and family.

“We tried to do everything ourselves and we should have involved a lot more of our parents to help us, a lot more of our community — which we didn’t.”

Candice adds: “I definitely recommend seeking advice. We were getting really overwhelmed at the beginning because everyone wants to give their opinions and they mean well, but it’s a lot of people.

“At the end of the day you need to take it on board and listen to what people say — don’t try and be a hero.”

It seems like the Dunnes are one of many Aussie couples who have snuck into the market before the housing bubble pops.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) chairman Greg Medcraft this week warned that borrowers could be burned when interest rates eventually rise or unemployment spikes thanks to the crazy house prices in Australian cities.

“I think that the Sydney and the Melbourne markets are very hot,” he told The World Today.

“If you look at the average price to income ratio, it is very high.

“History has shown that often you don’t know you’re in a bubble until it’s over, but you can look at history and look at historical averages and one can draw their own conclusions.”

Kylie and Candice recommend taking advice from family and friends.

Bubble or not, the women say they feel incredibly “lucky” to have achieved what they know a lot of people are struggling to in the tough financial climate, especially at such a young age (Candice was 25 and Kylie 26 at the time of the home’s settlement).

“Hell yes, we’re heaps proud of this — especially to own our own home in Sydney of all places,” says Candice.

“We’re pretty lucky,” agrees Kylie. “We’ve had overseas trips for the past few years, we’ve got a car, we’ve got a home, we’ve gotten married.

“We’ve settled here, we don’t want to move for at least another eight to nine years.”

Getting the keys on the first day was an overwhelming experience for both of them as they realised how much work they still wanted to do to the property — but it was also uplifting.

“We drilled a small hole in the wall just because we could,” laughs Kylie.

The next step for the Dunnes is to begin looking at renovations 12 months down the track when they have chipped away at more of their mortgage.

And their biggest bit of advice for other couples, just like them?

“Get two brokers,” Candice recommends, while Kylie focuses on the simpler task.

“Save up as much money as you can,” she says.

“Because the first couple of months after you buy a house is hard.”