How old is too old to get on the property ladder?

Youngsters aren’t the only ones struggling to gain a foothold in the housing market.

As the average age of first home ownership in Australia rises – to 37.7 nationally, according to research from ING Direct last year, compared with 34.7 years in 2005 – agents are reporting seeing more rookie buyers in their 40s and 50s.

Garry Blizzard happily skied and surfed away most of his savings in his 20s and 30s.

“They’re expensive sports,” he says. “I was more interested in doing that than anything else.”

Now aged 46, the plasterer from southern Sydney has decided it’s time to buy his first property, spurred on by becoming a father for the first time 17 months ago and tiring of the endless rental cycle.

“It’s come to that time where I’ve got to grow up.”

Blizzard now spends his weekends traipsing around open homes and display suites, hoping to find the right place – at the right price.

“My priorities definitely changed after having a baby. I started thinking more about the future.”

Blizzard’s story is not uncommon, according to CPM Realty managing director Sam Elbanna, who says the trend towards older first-home buyers has been particularly pronounced in the Sydney market in the past six to 12 months.

“First-home buyers in their late 30s to early 50s have been paying rent their whole lives while seeing their friends capture massive value with the growth of the market. They’ve decided to join the race as well.”

The combination of rising rents and low interest rates has made buying a more attractive proposition. Elbanna says older first-home buyers generally have larger deposits and are less concerned with snaring “glamorous” properties.

Some are even entering the downsizing phase of life, meaning smaller dwellings will suffice, while those close to retirement might be free to farewell the big smoke in favour of cheaper regional areas.

Melbourne buyer’s agent Cate Bakos says first timers in their 40s and 50s have usually been held back by a limited capacity to save, an itinerant lifestyle or a complete aversion to mortgage commitment.

Sometimes only a windfall such as an inheritance finally allows them to buy.

“When the cash savings have originated from an inheritance, the feeling of wanting to spend it wisely on a ‘perfect’ property can often override pragmatism,” Bakos says. “These types of purchases are often our most emotional and challenging, because no property is perfect.”

As for the question, “How old is too old to buy your first home?”, it is perhaps unsurprising that there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

Financial experts have declared lifetime renters face a less secure financial future than property owners, unless they start saving harder and smarter.

Robert Reid, a financial planner at Eqeus in Sydney, says banks tend to be more concerned about lending to older customers.

“They’ll want to see an exit strategy in terms of paying off the loan,” Reid says. “That might be using your higher income to pay off a loan over 10 to 15 years, rather than 20 to 30. Or if you have a bucket-load of super, you can use some of that on retirement to get rid of the debt.”

Despite the potential challenges, Reid says it’s hard to underestimate the benefits of home ownership later in life. For starters, the principal place of residence can be used to shelter assets from the age pension assets test.

Other upsides are harder to quantify.

“Do you want to be heading into your retirement with the uncertainty that renting brings or do you want to own your own home?” Reid says. “For most people we talk to coming into retirement, that security of owning their home assumes greater importance as they head into their 50s, 60s and 70s.”