However, Nicole Sherwin told Yahoo Finance why you should be wary of succumbing to this pressure and make sure you pick the right home. Her foray into the property market cost her $65,000, and she said her story should serve as a cautionary tale to others.
"I was pregnant, and my mentality was that this was an apartment in Bayside in Melbourne's south east, it's 200 meters from the beach," she said.
"I did my research on the company that built it, and even though it was a new build, I thought that I had to buy because I wasn't going to be able to get a home loan soon," she said.
This was back in 2019.
She was told by a buyers agent to try and snag a property with land if possible, avoid newly-built projects as there can be issues with quality.
Property expert Michael Yardney said roughly 40 per cent of new apartments experience defects like water leaks and fire safety issues soon after completion.
In NSW alone, 53 per cent of recent apartment buildings have significant defects.
Do you have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
All of Sherwin's friends were getting into the property market, and with a baby on the way, the Melbourne couple jumped at a $595,000 apartment that ticked enough boxes.
She knew it wasn't perfect, but the marketing worker didn't want to get priced out while sitting on the sidelines.
They wanted to live in it for a while and weren't massively concerned about capital growth, but had an inkling that it would probably go up in value — eventually.
Property journey goes from bad to worse
The 38-year-old and her family outgrew the home after two years, and they decided to rentvest.
This is when you own property as an investment but continue to rent in a desirable place as your principal place of residence.
They managed to get a tenant into the unit, and everything was running smoothly.
Six months later, Sherwin decided to get the investment property re-valued and discovered it had not appreciated in value at all.
To cut their losses, they chucked it onto the market in the hopes of a quick sale, where they could re-invest their cash elsewhere.
It took more than three years to sell.
Nicole said the apartment was good on paper and 200 metres from the beach. (Source: Supplied/Mark Heath - Flickr)
They had roughly 160 inspections, with a steady stream of interested buyers every time. They changed real estate agents twice, but it seemed impossible to get someone to take it off their hands.
There were a bunch of newer apartments that were springing up in the area, which was drowning the area with an oversupply of homes, and their building also came with a car stacker, which she said caused so many headaches.
"They just broke down all the time," she said, revealing she was once stuck in a car stacker for two hours.
To make matters worse, Sherwin was made redundant during this period, and they came off their fixed interest rate of 2 per cent, which skyrocketed to 6.8 per cent overnight.
That saw their monthly repayments jump by $700.
But they couldn't raise the rent to cover this extra cost because they were worried the tenant would move out, and that no one would move in to an apartment that was up for sale.
They eventually sold the apartment a few months ago for $30,000 less than what they wanted.
When you include all the fees, along with stamp duty and everything else associated with the initial purchase and sale, they were around $65,000 in the red.
How Nicole's story could happen to you
The Melbourne mum admitted that, with hindsight, the apartment purchase wasn't a bad idea if they were happy to live there forever.
But in terms of capital growth, it was a different story.
It came at a time when property FOMO was rife, and Sherwin thought most homes would appreciate at least a little bit unless there was something seriously wrong with them.
It's a similar situation now as the official cash rate is on a downward trend, thanks to falling inflation, and many Aussies are desperate to get in before prices rise any further.
They're now 4.9 per cent higher, or around $39,000 more expensive, compared to 12 months ago.
Buyer's agent Emily Wallace told Yahoo Finance she saw a significant increase in interest after the May rate cut, and another reduction this month could see even more buyers fighting for what's available.
On paper, it seems like you could buy anywhere and enjoy capital growth.
But Sherwin said it's not as simple as that.
"I'm proof that it's not a done deal," she said.
"It really depends on your circumstances and what you're looking for, what your goals are, where you want to live.
"It's really subjective, but it's just by no means a guaranteed solid investment."
Will property values continue to grow?
Melbourne has been hit hard by stagnant or even declining property growth in recent years.
Oversupply has been partly blamed for the trend, as well as reduced investor appetite due to land tax and other costs.
According to Perry Finance, units in Carlton dropped 33 per cent from 2019 to 2024, while Coburg saw an 18 per cent fall in value.
Units in Malvern East, West Footscray, North Melbourne, Oakleigh, Glen Waverley, and Brunswick West also had median price drops of between 10 to 15 per cent.
The CBD was also a hotbed of depreciation, with units dropping 12.9 per cent.
According to PropTrack data, there are suburbs all across the country where home values have declined or refused to budge in the last half decade, which would be giving some homeowners huge headaches.
Sherwin said her horror experience hasn't put her family completely off buying a home again.
She is happy to put the 2019 apartment in the rear view mirror and look forward now they have a more disposable cashflow, which can be invested for their future.
Her advice? Buy a place that works for you and resist pressure from market movements.
There is a risk of getting priced out if the market booms, she said you can end up in a worse financial situation buying the wrong home.
