Many Australian parents fear their children will never move out of home

Australian parents no longer fear getting the empty-nester blues when their children leave home, but are instead afraid their progeny won’t fly the coop soon enough.

The majority of Australian parents with children aged under 17 surveyed last month said they feared their children would live at home well into their adulthood, while just under two-thirds thought young people spent “everything they earned”, which stopped them getting financially ahead in life.

It follows comments made by BRW Rich List-er Tim Gurner on 60 Minutes Sunday night, which inferred young people needed to curb their spending habits if they wanted to ever own property, like him. ​”When I was trying to buy my first home I wasn’t buying smashed avocado for 19 bucks, and four coffees at $4 each,” Mr Gurner said on the program. 

The interview spawned the ire of many on Twitter, who thought the millionaire’s advice was a bit rich, given he had inherited $34,000 from his grandfather to step on the real estate ladder.

With wages growth at record lows and rocketing property prices in Sydney and Melbourne, many have argued there’s plenty more than smashed avocado keeping young people out of the housing market.

The survey, conducted by Galaxy for digital investment adviser Stockspot, showed nine in 10 parents (94 per cent) were concerned about their children’s future financial independence. The majority (74 per cent) of 1005 Australian parents feared their children would not leave home and 62 per cent thought young people’s spending habits stopped them getting ahead.

Eighty five per cent of parents were worried their children would not be able to afford their own home, with younger parents (those aged 18-34) were more concerned about the financial future of their children than their older counterparts. The report suggests this is potentially because they have they are already experiencing being locked out of buying a home and low wage growth, they fear it will only get worse.  

“Parents are squeezed in every direction and they’re not sure if they’ll have the funds to help their adult children,” Stockspot chief and founder Chris Brycki said. “I believe future generations won’t be able to rely so strongly on the bank of mum and dad.”

Meanwhile, further research released this week has suggested the huge disparity between what first home buyers defined as ‘affordable’ and the median price in both Sydney and Melbourne.

Of 216 first-home buyers surveyed by iBuildNew, an online listing site of homebuilders and land developers, 63 per cent believed an affordable house would cost less than $450,000. The median house price in Sydney has increased to a record $1,151,565, while Melbourne houses are sitting at a record $843,674. Just over three quarters said they could not get into the property market because they could not save the deposit or secure a loan.

With many property pundits arguing supply is the solution to the affordability crisis, the survey also showed the resistance young people have towards buying newer properties in areas outside of their desired locations.

Of those first-home buyers surveyed, 64 per cent said they were are only prepared to look at properties within their suburb of choice or surrounding suburbs. Only 22 per cent of first home buyers said they would consider building a new home, while 60 per cent were focused on buying an established home or townhouse.