The property market has opened up recently for first home buyers providing a huge opportunity to finally attain the great Australian Dream: owning your own property.
In addition to interest rates being at 60 year record lows, regulatory changes have forced out a lot of investors and foreign buyers from the market that have previously provided fierce competition for first home buyers. When you add in the addition of generous government grants for first home buyers now may be a short lived opportunity that many people may fail to take advantage of. Major apartment developer, Harry Triguboff certainly agrees with this premise.
If you have bought in the Melbourne or Sydney markets in the past 5-10 years you have nothing to worry about as property prices are now well above purchase price and you will have considerably equity built up in your property. During the same period of time interest rates have been steadily declining which would have greatly improved the serviceability on your loan.
Many first-home buyers are fearful about getting into the market now with investors and foreign buyers retreating causing some markets to slow. Sydney prices peaked in August 2017 with a downturn likely to play out over a 12-18 month period. This is a good opportunity to shop around and find a great deal that you would otherwise have not seen. This is known as counter cyclical buying. Sydney is already 5 months into its slow down phase so this window will soon close as well. Some markets are continuing to grow with Brisbane and Melbourne likely to have good growth again this year.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it is more important to get into the market when you are comfortably able to do so than picking the right market cycle. The earlier you purchase your first home the more equity you will create that will then enable you to purchase your first investment property and create wealth for your retirement.