Buying a home easier in good old days

It takes two thirds of home buyers three or more years to save for a home.

It takes two thirds of home buyers three or more years to save a deposit for their first home.

A survey of 1019 Aucklanders about their first home purchases has elicited interesting results.

Real estate firm Barfoot and Thompson wanted to find out the difference between today's first home buyers compared with people who bought in the 70s and 80s.

The firm's managing director, Peter Thompson, says although some aspects of the survey are "concerning", the overall picture is promising. Unsurprisingly, key findings are that today's first homes are less likely to be a family home, and that people are buying their first property much later in life.

While 77 per cent of the "parent generation" were in their 20s when they bought their first property, more than half (52 per cent) of current buyers are aged over 30.

More first-time buyers are also going it alone (23 per cent) or buying with a family member (13 per cent). About one-in-10 buyers are investors who don't live in their first property.

Almost half (47 per cent) of those surveyed said buying a home led to "a lot of financial pressure". More than half (53 per cent) made significant lifestyle sacrifices after moving in.

Thompson says a noticeable change between the generations is the length of time to save a deposit, with 66 per cent of people now taking three or more years compared with most of their parents who did so in two years or less.

Today's buyers need a 20 per cent deposit, while their parents likely only needed 10 per cent and 100 per cent mortgages were more common. While more than half (53 per cent) of the parent generation found no challenges in making mortgage payments, recent buyers say keeping and maintaining their homes are their main difficulties.

Just 6 per cent of recent buyers bought off the plans, against 28 per cent before 1980. Competition to find a home is fierce with 14 per cent of recent buyers saying it is the biggest challenge. No respondents from the 1979 or prior group felt this way.

With not enough new stock, DIY skills are needed to bring older properties up to spec. Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of recent buyers say their homes need work. This compares to less than half of those purchased in the 1970s or before (49 per cent).

Across generations, the standard three-bedroom detached home less than 20km from the CBD is the most popular buy.

Apartments are beginning to feature more at 8 per cent (double the 2010 figure). Section sizes, more of which are in the hands of developers, are also getting smaller. While most (71 per cent) sections of the past were 600sq m or more, today 62 per cent are under 600sq m, and just over one third are less than 400sq m.