University students Tess and Rory are hoping to break into the property market, and may team up to buy together. Picture: Tony Gough
Buying a home with friends could be a feasible option to break into the Melbourne’s housing market for many young adults.
Childhood friends of 13 years, Tess and Rory fear they could be priced out of buying a home in Melbourne altogether and may be forced to shift their home owning dreams to apartment living.
Both moved to Melbourne from Gippsland for university to chase their dream careers and are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis as rents continues to rise.
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“The housing market seems quite overwhelming, and owning a home seems a bit more achievable in the country than in metro Melbourne,” Rory said.
“I would consider buying a house with friends, but I don’t know if money and friends mix very well.
“If I could afford a house, I wouldn’t live in it; I’d rent it out, live with family, or rent with friends. The economy at the moment makes it difficult to save.”
Childhood friends of 13 years, Tess and Rory, fear they could be priced out of buying a home in Melbourne altogether and may be forced to shift their home owning dreams to apartment living. Picture: Tony Gough
Setting his eyes on the future, Rory said he would like his first investment property to be in Gippsland.
“I commute to Warragul each week – you can have a four-bedroom home and have the space and not be too far out of the city,” he said.
“Covid changed things. A lot of people moved out of the city, and Warragul had the biggest growth I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.”
While some of his friends have been able to buy a home with their parents as guarantor, Rory said that wasn’t an option for everyone.
“It shows just how unfair the market is and how it’s dependent on what you’re born into rather than how hard you work,” he said.
“Ideally, I would like to own something before the time I turn 30, but I don’t think buying a $300,000 one-bedroom apartment in Melbourne would be a smart financial decision. I would rather spend $300,000 in the country on an older home that I can flip and make my own.”
Tess said travel was a priority for her as it seemed a more obtainable goal than buying a home.
5/8 Tattenham St, Caulfield East recently sold for $455,000.
“Saving for a home seems a bit obscure for people of our age still in uni – buying with friends seems like it could be a good stepping stone,” she said.
“I would like to see something done to help people buy their first home, whether that’s policy or something else.
“With the market in the state that it is right now, the idea of searching for rentals is so daunting because the market is so saturated, but share housing is what I think I’m going to have to do at least for the foreseeable future.”
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