The Burrow
May 29, 2024
It’s no secret that the prospect of home ownership is getting more and more out of reach for younger generations, thanks in large part to rising house prices unfavourable economic conditions.
Are people being discouraged from entering the housing market, because of the barriers they face? In other words, who cares about home ownership?
The team of home loan experts at Compare the Market decided to determine once and for all how much people actually care about owning a home, by conducting a survey of more than 3,000 Australian, American and Canadian respondents.
Here’s what we found.
Off the bat, two key findings can be inferred from the data:
In fact, younger people were generally more likely to say they were “quite keen” or would “sacrifice anything” to get a foot in the door in the property market, compared to older generations.
While this isn’t exactly a strong endorsement, the majority of respondents from all three nations surveyed said they would consider ownership one day – if they were in a position to buy. This could imply that many people are still open to the idea of home ownership but may not be focused or aiming for this goal specifically.
It should not be overlooked that 19.4% of Aussies, 19.0% of Canadians and 25.1% of Americans (that have not already purchased property) said they had no interest in purchasing property at all.
This could be for a variety of factors, from fiscal, career or even lifestyle choices.
Interestingly, older generations that have not already purchased property were more likely to have no interest in home ownership.
One possible reason for this is that people at this stage of life may be not purchasing by choice, rather than due to fiscal limitations. Alternatively, older people may be simply giving up on ever owning a home if they have not done so by this point already.
Unsurprisingly, the main factor stopping people from buying into the property market is the cost. “I can’t afford it” was the primary reason for not owning property for 66.3% of Aussies, 74.0% of Canadians and 73.4% of Americans.
The next biggest reasons for Aussies was that they hadn’t yet found a suitable property (9.1%), and weren’t eligible for a home loan (7.5%).
For Canadians, 6.6% said they would prefer to spend money on other things – the second biggest reason for not owning property! Another 5.9% said they had not yet found a property that suits.
Americans also shared similar hangups, with 5.6% of people ineligible for a home loan, along with another 5.6% having yet to find a suitable property.
Obviously, property can be expensive, but there are also plenty of other large, important and impactful things people can spend money on. With that in mind, we also asked people what things they would rather spend their money on, aside from getting into the property market.
| Financial Priorities | Gen-Z | Millennials | Gen-X | Boomers | Total |
| Travel plans | 35.3% | 39.6% | 19.6% | 46.9% | 35.3% |
| Enjoying better everyday things (better living situation, medical care, food, etc) | 39.7% | 31.7% | 35.3% | 25.0% | 33.7% |
| None | 19.1% | 17.8% | 29.4% | 28.1% | 21.8% |
| A new car | 25.0% | 10.9% | 17.6% | 18.8% | 17.1% |
| Starting/supporting my family | 16.2% | 20.8% | 11.8% | 9.4% | 16.3% |
| Investments in stocks, shares, cryptocurrencies, etc | 16.2% | 16.8% | 19.6% | 9.4% | 16.3% |
| Paying off other loans | 19.1% | 7.9% | 25.5% | 3.1% | 13.9% |
| Entertainment or adventure experiences | 13.2% | 11.9% | 11.8% | 6.3% | 11.5% |
| Education for myself | 19.1% | 11.9% | 2.0% | 3.1% | 10.7% |
| Starting/buying a business | 13.2% | 11.9% | 9.8% | 3.1% | 10.7% |
| Education for my child | 7.4% | 14.9% | 5.9% | 0.0% | 9.1% |
| Materialistic items / lavish lifestyle (clothes, jewellery, dinners out, etc) | 14.7% | 6.9% | 3.9% | 3.1% | 7.9% |
| A new pet | 7.4% | 6.9% | 7.8% | 3.1% | 6.7% |
| Cosmetic surgery | 1.5% | 4.0% | 5.9% | 0.0% | 3.2% |
| Wedding | 4.4% | 3.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| Other | 2.9% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 3.1% | 2.0% |
| Financial Priorities | Gen-Z | Millennials | Gen-X | Boomers | Total |
| Enjoying better everyday things (better living situation, medical care, food, etc) | 30.4% | 40.8% | 25.0% | 36.8% | 33.2% |
| Travel plans | 40.6% | 34.7% | 23.8% | 26.3% | 31.8% |
| Paying off other loans | 24.6% | 31.6% | 21.4% | 23.7% | 26.0% |
| Investments in stocks, shares, cryptocurrencies, etc | 15.9% | 31.6% | 16.7% | 15.8% | 21.5% |
| Education for myself | 33.3% | 23.5% | 11.9% | 10.5% | 20.8% |
| A new car | 18.8% | 26.5% | 17.9% | 13.2% | 20.4% |
| Starting/supporting my family | 21.7% | 25.5% | 9.5% | 7.9% | 17.6% |
| Entertainment or adventure experiences | 24.6% | 19.4% | 8.3% | 15.8% | 17.0% |
| Starting/buying a business | 11.6% | 22.4% | 7.1% | 10.5% | 13.8% |
| None | 7.2% | 3.1% | 19.0% | 31.6% | 12.5% |
| Materialistic items / lavish lifestyle (clothes, jewellery, dinners out, etc) | 13.0% | 15.3% | 8.3% | 2.6% | 11.1% |
| Education for my child | 8.7% | 10.2% | 16.7% | 0.0% | 10.4% |
| A new pet | 11.6% | 7.1% | 8.3% | 5.3% | 8.3% |
| Wedding | 5.8% | 5.1% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 3.5% |
| Cosmetic surgery | 0.0% | 4.1% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| Other | 4.3% | 2.0% | 1.2% | 2.6% | 2.4% |
| Financial Priorities | Gen-Z | Millennials | Gen-X | Boomers | Total |
| Enjoying better everyday things (better living situation, medical care, food, etc) | 34.6% | 31.3% | 34.8% | 41.7% | 35.0% |
| A new car | 24.4% | 40.6% | 19.1% | 16.7% | 26.3% |
| Paying off other loans | 30.8% | 28.1% | 24.7% | 13.3% | 25.1% |
| Travel plans | 35.9% | 21.9% | 19.1% | 11.7% | 22.6% |
| Starting/supporting my family | 29.5% | 28.1% | 10.1% | 10.0% | 20.1% |
| Entertainment or adventure experiences | 17.9% | 24.0% | 13.5% | 13.3% | 17.6% |
| Investments in stocks, shares, cryptocurrencies, etc | 19.2% | 21.9% | 12.4% | 10.0% | 16.4% |
| None | 9.0% | 8.3% | 20.2% | 33.3% | 16.4% |
| Education for myself | 32.1% | 14.6% | 7.9% | 1.7% | 14.6% |
| Materialistic items / lavish lifestyle (clothes, jewellery, dinners out, etc) | 17.9% | 13.5% | 12.4% | 5.0% | 12.7% |
| Education for my child | 7.7% | 19.8% | 9.0% | 6.7% | 11.5% |
| Starting/buying a business | 15.4% | 15.6% | 5.6% | 3.3% | 10.5% |
| A new pet | 6.4% | 10.4% | 5.6% | 5.0% | 7.1% |
| Wedding | 11.5% | 7.3% | 1.1% | 0.0% | 5.3% |
| Cosmetic surgery | 2.6% | 1.0% | 2.2% | 0.0% | 1.5% |
| Other | 0.0% | 0.0% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 1.5% |
Compare the Market’s General Manager of Money, Stephen Zeller, said that breaking into the Australian property market can be a daunting task.
“Purchasing property – especially for the first time – can be an expensive, complicated and lengthy journey,” Mr Zeller said.
“That is why the home loan team at Compare the Market have created a free, online comparison tool – to help you to compare your options and make the process of getting a home loan simples!
“Our tool allows you to view property reports, as well as your credit score and borrowing power, to help you determine and stick to your budget.
“You could also look for features like ‘redraw’ or ‘offset accounts’ to help you stay secure if other expenses come up.”
Compare the Market commissioned PureProfile to survey 1,005 Australian, 1,003 American and 1,002 Canadian adults in February 2024.
They generations referred to above correlate to the following age groups:
