Yahoo Finance $28,000: ‘Lucky’ Boomers reveal how much their first property cost them
One Sydney woman said she was “lucky” to still have her first property because she wouldn't be able to afford to buy today.
Older Aussies have revealed exactly how much they paid for their first properties. And the answers have made some younger Aussies “want to cry”.
After being stopped in the streets of Sydney by property platform Coposit, homeowners laid bare just how much property prices have skyrocketed. While the figures shared don’t take into account inflation or salaries at the time (plus, how high interest rates used to be), they’ve still come as a shock to some younger Aussies.
Back in 1970, the median Sydney house price was $18,700. In 1980, the average house price was around $68,850. And by 1990, the average had more than doubled to $194,000.
Fast-forward to today and the average home in the country’s priciest city is topping $1.1 million, while across the country homes are valued at $800,000.
Here’s what five Aussies candidly revealed about buying their first home.
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$82,000 in 1985
One Sydney woman said she was “lucky” to buy a one-bedroom house that was DMR-affected in 1985 for $82,000.
“[I’m] lucky to have that house now 40 years later, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to afford to buy a house at all,” she said.
The 72-year-old said she had worked two or three jobs at a time to afford the home, which was “relative” to her income at the time.
“I think it’s much harder now. I think we had jobs, we had opportunity. [It’s a] very different time,” she said.
$180,000 in 1991
Another Aussie shared he bought a three-bedroom house in Ryde for $180,000 back in 1991. He estimated it was now worth around $3 million.
“I can’t believe it. It’s too expensive and it's too expensive for someone entering the market,” he said.
He revealed he purchased a three-bedroom apartment in Parramatta for $1.2 million last year.
The man recommended people save as much as they could for their initial deposit, take advantage of first home buyer schemes and buy what they could afford.
$56,000 in 1984
Another man said he bought his first property in Melbourne for $56,000 in 1984. He then sold that in 1992 to accommodate his growing family and bought another bigger property for $300,000, where he still lives today.
“It’s probably worth over $2 million now and we’ve got 30 odd years, nearly 40 years out of it and growing up with it with younger kids,” he said.
“I think it’s very hard at the moment … Don’t give up hope. I know it’s really difficult with the way property has gone up with price to get into the market now.
“I think somethings going to have to change. We are probably the generation that contributed to it a bit because we got benefits like free education and favourable tax rulings.”
$28,000 in 1976
One couple shared they paid just $28,000 for their first property 48 years ago and were able to put down a 30 per cent deposit.
More recently, they purchased a property for $550,000 but this had now increased in value to more than $1 million in the last 10 years.
The couple said things were “so much easier” when they bought their first property.
$45,000 in 1985
Another Aussie man shared he bought his first property for $45,000 in 1985 while he was working in the defence force.
“It was still seen as a fairly substantial amount of money back in those days considering income and the like,” he said.
“For us, it was quite a deal of money considering interest rates were I think by memory somewhere around 13 to 14 per cent,” he said.
When asked whether he had to make any sacrifices at the time, he said he remembered going to the supermarket and having to “put things back” in order to afford his mortgage repayments - something many families are doing today.
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