Owning a house is something that many take for granted, but Aussie senior Bruce Jackson knows firsthand just how precious it is.

When Bruce moved to Albury, New South Wales, from Sydney in 1984 at the age of 25, he set his sights on a $60,000 house and was determined to make it his own.

His dedication to his goal was nothing short of inspiring, with him revealing to SBS Insight that he had to scrimp and save to make his dream a reality.

At the time, Bruce earned an annual salary of $22,000 and had to dedicate 43 per cent of it to paying off his mortgage. His pay amounted to about $100 weekly, around $373 in today's money.

'You’d eat mince every night,' Bruce said. 'And you wouldn’t eat the quality mince. You’d eat the cheap mince.'

Bruce Jackson shared his experience buying a $60,000 home in the 1980s. Credit: SBS Insight/Facebook

‘I never went on holidays. Never bought a new car. I got given a second-hand car at 17. It was a 17-year-old car then. I’ve still got it,’ Bruce explained. ‘Every spare cent went on paying off that mortgage.’

Aside from eating 'cheap mince' and foregoing the occasional holiday, Bruce also relied on other forms of income to help pay off his mortgage, having rented out the third bedroom of his house to a friend and frequently selling antique furniture in his spare time.

‘Anything that I made from that went straight on that home loan. I tried to pay it off as soon as possible because the interest rates by 1990 had gone to 17.5 per cent. So they just kept going up and up and up,’ he said.

Bruce later on sold his house for $550,000. Credit: doublelee/Shutterstock

Bruce later sold the house he bought for $60,000 for a whopping $550,000, a great return on investment.

In a modern comparison, Bruce's 23-year-old daughter recently experienced a more straightforward process of buying her own house.

‘She just stayed, living at home when she finished work,’ he shared. ‘And after two years, she said: “Dad, I might have enough for a deposit for a house.”’

Bruce said she found it to be much easier than he did back in 1984. ‘Just the other day, she said, “I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. It really wasn’t that hard.”’

However, Bruce pointed out that he had more struggles as a home buyer than his daughter.

‘When I bought my house, I was never able to pay rates on time. I was never able to pay for the electricity on time. I was always weeks over on electricity,’ he said.

‘Quite often, I’d have to borrow money off other people to cover that and then pay them back as soon as I had anything spare.’

Bruce also mentioned that certain benefits were not available to him then, such as the first homebuyer scheme and special assistance for essential service workers, which made it relatively easier for her.

These issues plague many millennials today, including freelance photographer Ashley Swallow, who noted that rising living costs have made it difficult to save for a deposit and a future family.

Millennials are having a hard time purchasing a home. Credit: Ufuk ZIVANA/Shutterstock

‘Owning a home [and] having a family is definitely something (my partner and I) want to do...but we want a house before we do that. I don’t want to be having my first child at 35. I don’t mind if I buy a house at 35,’ Ashley said.

‘It’s one of those things. It’s kind of held back at the moment because of financial situations,’ she shared.

Ashley shared that she spent her 20s travelling, and despite the pressure, she doesn’t regret her experiences and choice to pursue a career with irregular income.

‘I kind of lived my retirement younger than older. And I’m…ok with that,’ the 30-year-old added.

Another millennial, Xavier George, shared his frustration with the housing market. ‘It’s like, you can do all the right things. You can go to uni and get your degree, and you can get the specialist degree, and you can get promotions... And it kind of just doesn’t matter almost,’ he said.

Xavier has more than 30 per cent of his income allocated to rent while paying off a $100,000 HECS debt.

‘I’m earning more money now on paper than I used to. But I’m definitely not feeling like I earn more money. You know, the cost of life has just grown quicker than my income has,’ Xavier pointed out.

When asked what it will take for him to be a homeowner, Xavier bluntly replied: 'My parents dying, I think.'

‘You know, knock on wood. Sorry, mum. But that’s the windfall. I’m serious about that. That is actually the great tidemark of when a lot of people are going to be able to suddenly buy their own home,’ he explained.

An economist from the University of Sydney, Dr Gareth Bryant, contributed his insights in the episode. He highlighted that the problems millennials are currently facing in relation to buying their own home are very different from those of the older generations.

‘We are talking about two very different problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was an income problem of people being able to afford repayments. But because house prices were much lower, it wasn’t so much of a wealth problem,’ Dr Bryant stated.

He continued: ‘In the late 1990s, house prices were around 2-3 times average incomes depending on where in Australia you were. Now that figure is 7-10 times, meaning the problem is having enough wealth to get into the property market in the first place.’

‘Many Millennials could actually make mortgage repayments but struggle to get the deposit,’ he pointed out.

A recent survey by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found out that young people were doing ‘everything they could’ to save for a deposit on a house purchase.

This includes taking on extra hours and additional jobs, cutting back on spending, willingness to move to outer-suburban and regional areas. But Dr Bryant said that the millennials ‘still found themselves going backwards due to increasing house prices and rising rents’.

‘The smashed avo on toast cliche is most definitely a myth,’ he confirmed.

Dr Bryant also added that the younger generation, Gen Z, will have a harder time penetrating the housing market, and they could be a generation of lifetime renters.

You can watch a clip of the Insight episode here:

​

Key Takeaways

• An Aussie senior, Bruce Jackson, shared his journey of becoming a homeowner in 1984, which involved significant personal sacrifices, including eating 'cheap mince' and never going on holidays.
  
• Bruce believes his 23-year-old daughter had an easier time entering the property market than he did in his time, despite current concerns over housing affordability.
  
• Millenials like Ashley Swallow have difficulty buying their own home. In the case of Ashley, she had to be held back due to other financial situations.
  
• Xavier George, a millennial, expresses frustration over current housing market conditions and fears that only a large unanticipated windfall, such as inheritance, might enable him to buy a home.
  
• Dr Gareth Bryant, a University of Sydney economist, notes the challenges facing millennials wanting to buy their first home are much different from those faced by the older generation, with housing prices now being 7-10 times average incomes compared to 2-3 times in the late 90s.
  

What do you think of this story, dear members? Did you have a similar experience to Bruce when you were buying your own home? Share your stories in the comments below!

 

[Jan Purcell]

We bought our house in Bacchus Marsh Vic in 1962, we had to scrimp and save, bought things from the op shop etc and did not go away on holidays.

 

[Thecheesequeen]

This was our experience too. One wage, no alcohol, didn’t smoke, no meals out, scrimping and saving, robbing Peter to pay Paul. You need to sacrifice your easy-spending lifestyle in the early years if you want to own your own home.

 

[Penny4]

I agree with Bruce Jackson. Millennials do spend more than we did at their age.

 

[Pommyoz]

We lived in a caravan until my dad visited Australia. He said no, get a proper home.
so my husband went into his warehouse and shouted “can anyone lend me $2000 please?” The supervisor yelled back yep okay no probs.
Thats how we paid a deposit plus the caravan as well. 1978 circa

 

[Dancerpauline2]

I wanted to own my home before having a family, so when we got married in 1974 I was 19, we lived on one wage and saved the other wage. If I bought new clothes they were cheap ones. No holidays, if we went anywhere we stayed with family or friends. We bought our first home in NZ for $6,000 and borrowed $5000 from my in-laws to buy it, and had that paid back within a year. So we then owned the house. It was an old 2 bedroom one. We saved hard and every Christmas holidays we’d spend 3 weeks renovating it room by room over the next 5 years, and added another bedroom. We built a double garage with a self contained flat on the end which we rented out. Then I had my family at aged 25 and 29. When it was sold when I was 43 it was worth $65,000. I got divorced and rented for a year, then I bought another house which cost me $110,000, so I had to get a mortgage, which I hated. I took in 2 boarders to help pay that back. All this time I lived on a tight budget. I sold and bought another home too, upgrading, and when I sold that I got $198,000, so I paid off themortgage and came to Aussie at age 50.I lost $40,000 in exchange rates when I transferred my money, but still had enough to buy a home. I was going to buy a duplex here but didn’t want the worry of termite invasion so decided I’d rent for the rest of my life. I also didn’t have job certainty so didn’t want to get a mortgage and then lose my job. I’ve enjoyed quite a few holidays and adventures over the last 18 years but still have enough money to be comfortable without being extravagant in my retirement. I’m happy with what I’ve done, and been very lucky to find cheap rent.

 

[kevinwoodtufftyke52@gmail]

Owning a house is something that many take for granted, but Aussie senior Bruce Jackson knows firsthand just how precious it is.

When Bruce moved to Albury, New South Wales, from Sydney in 1984 at the age of 25, he set his sights on a $60,000 house and was determined to make it his own.

His dedication to his goal was nothing short of inspiring, with him revealing to SBS Insight that he had to scrimp and save to make his dream a reality.

At the time, Bruce earned an annual salary of $22,000 and had to dedicate 43 per cent of it to paying off his mortgage. His pay amounted to about $100 weekly, around $373 in today's money.

'You’d eat mince every night,' Bruce said. 'And you wouldn’t eat the quality mince. You’d eat the cheap mince.'

View attachment 28095

Bruce Jackson shared his experience buying a $60,000 home in the 1980s. Credit: SBS Insight/Facebook

‘I never went on holidays. Never bought a new car. I got given a second-hand car at 17. It was a 17-year-old car then. I’ve still got it,’ Bruce explained. ‘Every spare cent went on paying off that mortgage.’

Aside from eating 'cheap mince' and foregoing the occasional holiday, Bruce also relied on other forms of income to help pay off his mortgage, having rented out the third bedroom of his house to a friend and frequently selling antique furniture in his spare time.

‘Anything that I made from that went straight on that home loan. I tried to pay it off as soon as possible because the interest rates by 1990 had gone to 17.5 per cent. So they just kept going up and up and up,’ he said.

View attachment 28096

Bruce later on sold his house for $550,000. Credit: doublelee/Shutterstock

Bruce later sold the house he bought for $60,000 for a whopping $550,000, a great return on investment.

In a modern comparison, Bruce's 23-year-old daughter recently experienced a more straightforward process of buying her own house.

‘She just stayed, living at home when she finished work,’ he shared. ‘And after two years, she said: “Dad, I might have enough for a deposit for a house.”’

Bruce said she found it to be much easier than he did back in 1984. ‘Just the other day, she said, “I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. It really wasn’t that hard.”’

However, Bruce pointed out that he had more struggles as a home buyer than his daughter.

‘When I bought my house, I was never able to pay rates on time. I was never able to pay for the electricity on time. I was always weeks over on electricity,’ he said.

‘Quite often, I’d have to borrow money off other people to cover that and then pay them back as soon as I had anything spare.’

Bruce also mentioned that certain benefits were not available to him then, such as the first homebuyer scheme and special assistance for essential service workers, which made it relatively easier for her.

These issues plague many millennials today, including freelance photographer Ashley Swallow, who noted that rising living costs have made it difficult to save for a deposit and a future family.

View attachment 28097

Millennials are having a hard time purchasing a home. Credit: Ufuk ZIVANA/Shutterstock

‘Owning a home [and] having a family is definitely something (my partner and I) want to do...but we want a house before we do that. I don’t want to be having my first child at 35. I don’t mind if I buy a house at 35,’ Ashley said.

‘It’s one of those things. It’s kind of held back at the moment because of financial situations,’ she shared.

Ashley shared that she spent her 20s travelling, and despite the pressure, she doesn’t regret her experiences and choice to pursue a career with irregular income.

‘I kind of lived my retirement younger than older. And I’m…ok with that,’ the 30-year-old added.

Another millennial, Xavier George, shared his frustration with the housing market. ‘It’s like, you can do all the right things. You can go to uni and get your degree, and you can get the specialist degree, and you can get promotions... And it kind of just doesn’t matter almost,’ he said.

Xavier has more than 30 per cent of his income allocated to rent while paying off a $100,000 HECS debt.

‘I’m earning more money now on paper than I used to. But I’m definitely not feeling like I earn more money. You know, the cost of life has just grown quicker than my income has,’ Xavier pointed out.

When asked what it will take for him to be a homeowner, Xavier bluntly replied: 'My parents dying, I think.'

‘You know, knock on wood. Sorry, mum. But that’s the windfall. I’m serious about that. That is actually the great tidemark of when a lot of people are going to be able to suddenly buy their own home,’ he explained.

An economist from the University of Sydney, Dr Gareth Bryant, contributed his insights in the episode. He highlighted that the problems millennials are currently facing in relation to buying their own home are very different from those of the older generations.

‘We are talking about two very different problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was an income problem of people being able to afford repayments. But because house prices were much lower, it wasn’t so much of a wealth problem,’ Dr Bryant stated.

He continued: ‘In the late 1990s, house prices were around 2-3 times average incomes depending on where in Australia you were. Now that figure is 7-10 times, meaning the problem is having enough wealth to get into the property market in the first place.’

‘Many Millennials could actually make mortgage repayments but struggle to get the deposit,’ he pointed out.

A recent survey by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found out that young people were doing ‘everything they could’ to save for a deposit on a house purchase.

This includes taking on extra hours and additional jobs, cutting back on spending, willingness to move to outer-suburban and regional areas. But Dr Bryant said that the millennials ‘still found themselves going backwards due to increasing house prices and rising rents’.

‘The smashed avo on toast cliche is most definitely a myth,’ he confirmed.

Dr Bryant also added that the younger generation, Gen Z, will have a harder time penetrating the housing market, and they could be a generation of lifetime renters.

You can watch a clip of the Insight episode here:

​

Key Takeaways

• An Aussie senior, Bruce Jackson, shared his journey of becoming a homeowner in 1984, which involved significant personal sacrifices, including eating 'cheap mince' and never going on holidays.
• Bruce believes his 23-year-old daughter had an easier time entering the property market than he did in his time, despite current concerns over housing affordability.
• Millenials like Ashley Swallow have difficulty buying their own home. In the case of Ashley, she had to be held back due to other financial situations.
• Xavier George, a millennial, expresses frustration over current housing market conditions and fears that only a large unanticipated windfall, such as inheritance, might enable him to buy a home.
• Dr Gareth Bryant, a University of Sydney economist, notes the challenges facing millennials wanting to buy their first home are much different from those faced by the older generation, with housing prices now being 7-10 times average incomes compared to 2-3 times in the late 90s.

What do you think of this story, dear members? Did you have a similar experience to Bruce when you were buying your own home? Share your stories in the comments below!

We rented for years, we both had jobs with myself on a different shift, we had a family but still managed to save for a deposit which took over 5 years to accumulate. We had 1 secondhand car with me using public transport or lifts with fellow employees. When we finally purchased a house we had bed sheets over the windows for privacy, no floor coverings or air conditioning. All while our mortgage rates rose to 17.5%. I had to get a second job driving taxis part time. We bought our house in the outer suburbs. We both are retired now.

 

[Marj53]

My ex and I rented for 24 years. We lived on 1 wage while the kids were young. When we finally purchased a house the interest rates were 17 %. I now live alone in a 2 bdrm. unit. I should say I did live alone until my daughter moved in about a month ago with my 5 year old grandson,so she could save to buy her own place. Could take a while.

 

[Luckyus]

Owning a house is something that many take for granted, but Aussie senior Bruce Jackson knows firsthand just how precious it is.

When Bruce moved to Albury, New South Wales, from Sydney in 1984 at the age of 25, he set his sights on a $60,000 house and was determined to make it his own.

His dedication to his goal was nothing short of inspiring, with him revealing to SBS Insight that he had to scrimp and save to make his dream a reality.

At the time, Bruce earned an annual salary of $22,000 and had to dedicate 43 per cent of it to paying off his mortgage. His pay amounted to about $100 weekly, around $373 in today's money.

'You’d eat mince every night,' Bruce said. 'And you wouldn’t eat the quality mince. You’d eat the cheap mince.'

View attachment 28095

Bruce Jackson shared his experience buying a $60,000 home in the 1980s. Credit: SBS Insight/Facebook

‘I never went on holidays. Never bought a new car. I got given a second-hand car at 17. It was a 17-year-old car then. I’ve still got it,’ Bruce explained. ‘Every spare cent went on paying off that mortgage.’

Aside from eating 'cheap mince' and foregoing the occasional holiday, Bruce also relied on other forms of income to help pay off his mortgage, having rented out the third bedroom of his house to a friend and frequently selling antique furniture in his spare time.

‘Anything that I made from that went straight on that home loan. I tried to pay it off as soon as possible because the interest rates by 1990 had gone to 17.5 per cent. So they just kept going up and up and up,’ he said.

View attachment 28096

Bruce later on sold his house for $550,000. Credit: doublelee/Shutterstock

Bruce later sold the house he bought for $60,000 for a whopping $550,000, a great return on investment.

In a modern comparison, Bruce's 23-year-old daughter recently experienced a more straightforward process of buying her own house.

‘She just stayed, living at home when she finished work,’ he shared. ‘And after two years, she said: “Dad, I might have enough for a deposit for a house.”’

Bruce said she found it to be much easier than he did back in 1984. ‘Just the other day, she said, “I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. It really wasn’t that hard.”’

However, Bruce pointed out that he had more struggles as a home buyer than his daughter.

‘When I bought my house, I was never able to pay rates on time. I was never able to pay for the electricity on time. I was always weeks over on electricity,’ he said.

‘Quite often, I’d have to borrow money off other people to cover that and then pay them back as soon as I had anything spare.’

Bruce also mentioned that certain benefits were not available to him then, such as the first homebuyer scheme and special assistance for essential service workers, which made it relatively easier for her.

These issues plague many millennials today, including freelance photographer Ashley Swallow, who noted that rising living costs have made it difficult to save for a deposit and a future family.

View attachment 28097

Millennials are having a hard time purchasing a home. Credit: Ufuk ZIVANA/Shutterstock

‘Owning a home [and] having a family is definitely something (my partner and I) want to do...but we want a house before we do that. I don’t want to be having my first child at 35. I don’t mind if I buy a house at 35,’ Ashley said.

‘It’s one of those things. It’s kind of held back at the moment because of financial situations,’ she shared.

Ashley shared that she spent her 20s travelling, and despite the pressure, she doesn’t regret her experiences and choice to pursue a career with irregular income.

‘I kind of lived my retirement younger than older. And I’m…ok with that,’ the 30-year-old added.

Another millennial, Xavier George, shared his frustration with the housing market. ‘It’s like, you can do all the right things. You can go to uni and get your degree, and you can get the specialist degree, and you can get promotions... And it kind of just doesn’t matter almost,’ he said.

Xavier has more than 30 per cent of his income allocated to rent while paying off a $100,000 HECS debt.

‘I’m earning more money now on paper than I used to. But I’m definitely not feeling like I earn more money. You know, the cost of life has just grown quicker than my income has,’ Xavier pointed out.

When asked what it will take for him to be a homeowner, Xavier bluntly replied: 'My parents dying, I think.'

‘You know, knock on wood. Sorry, mum. But that’s the windfall. I’m serious about that. That is actually the great tidemark of when a lot of people are going to be able to suddenly buy their own home,’ he explained.

An economist from the University of Sydney, Dr Gareth Bryant, contributed his insights in the episode. He highlighted that the problems millennials are currently facing in relation to buying their own home are very different from those of the older generations.

‘We are talking about two very different problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was an income problem of people being able to afford repayments. But because house prices were much lower, it wasn’t so much of a wealth problem,’ Dr Bryant stated.

He continued: ‘In the late 1990s, house prices were around 2-3 times average incomes depending on where in Australia you were. Now that figure is 7-10 times, meaning the problem is having enough wealth to get into the property market in the first place.’

‘Many Millennials could actually make mortgage repayments but struggle to get the deposit,’ he pointed out.

A recent survey by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found out that young people were doing ‘everything they could’ to save for a deposit on a house purchase.

This includes taking on extra hours and additional jobs, cutting back on spending, willingness to move to outer-suburban and regional areas. But Dr Bryant said that the millennials ‘still found themselves going backwards due to increasing house prices and rising rents’.

‘The smashed avo on toast cliche is most definitely a myth,’ he confirmed.

Dr Bryant also added that the younger generation, Gen Z, will have a harder time penetrating the housing market, and they could be a generation of lifetime renters.

You can watch a clip of the Insight episode here:

​

Key Takeaways

• An Aussie senior, Bruce Jackson, shared his journey of becoming a homeowner in 1984, which involved significant personal sacrifices, including eating 'cheap mince' and never going on holidays.
• Bruce believes his 23-year-old daughter had an easier time entering the property market than he did in his time, despite current concerns over housing affordability.
• Millenials like Ashley Swallow have difficulty buying their own home. In the case of Ashley, she had to be held back due to other financial situations.
• Xavier George, a millennial, expresses frustration over current housing market conditions and fears that only a large unanticipated windfall, such as inheritance, might enable him to buy a home.
• Dr Gareth Bryant, a University of Sydney economist, notes the challenges facing millennials wanting to buy their first home are much different from those faced by the older generation, with housing prices now being 7-10 times average incomes compared to 2-3 times in the late 90s.

What do you think of this story, dear members? Did you have a similar experience to Bruce when you were buying your own home? Share your stories in the comments below!

People seem to forget that although they may have bought a house for 60,000 and sold for 500.000. When you take into consideration over the term of your mortgage the interest you pay is compound, so at the end the initial is far more than the 60.000.

 

[IAN3005]

Owning a house is something that many take for granted, but Aussie senior Bruce Jackson knows firsthand just how precious it is.

When Bruce moved to Albury, New South Wales, from Sydney in 1984 at the age of 25, he set his sights on a $60,000 house and was determined to make it his own.

His dedication to his goal was nothing short of inspiring, with him revealing to SBS Insight that he had to scrimp and save to make his dream a reality.

At the time, Bruce earned an annual salary of $22,000 and had to dedicate 43 per cent of it to paying off his mortgage. His pay amounted to about $100 weekly, around $373 in today's money.

'You’d eat mince every night,' Bruce said. 'And you wouldn’t eat the quality mince. You’d eat the cheap mince.'

View attachment 28095

Bruce Jackson shared his experience buying a $60,000 home in the 1980s. Credit: SBS Insight/Facebook

‘I never went on holidays. Never bought a new car. I got given a second-hand car at 17. It was a 17-year-old car then. I’ve still got it,’ Bruce explained. ‘Every spare cent went on paying off that mortgage.’

Aside from eating 'cheap mince' and foregoing the occasional holiday, Bruce also relied on other forms of income to help pay off his mortgage, having rented out the third bedroom of his house to a friend and frequently selling antique furniture in his spare time.

‘Anything that I made from that went straight on that home loan. I tried to pay it off as soon as possible because the interest rates by 1990 had gone to 17.5 per cent. So they just kept going up and up and up,’ he said.

View attachment 28096

Bruce later on sold his house for $550,000. Credit: doublelee/Shutterstock

Bruce later sold the house he bought for $60,000 for a whopping $550,000, a great return on investment.

In a modern comparison, Bruce's 23-year-old daughter recently experienced a more straightforward process of buying her own house.

‘She just stayed, living at home when she finished work,’ he shared. ‘And after two years, she said: “Dad, I might have enough for a deposit for a house.”’

Bruce said she found it to be much easier than he did back in 1984. ‘Just the other day, she said, “I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. It really wasn’t that hard.”’

However, Bruce pointed out that he had more struggles as a home buyer than his daughter.

‘When I bought my house, I was never able to pay rates on time. I was never able to pay for the electricity on time. I was always weeks over on electricity,’ he said.

‘Quite often, I’d have to borrow money off other people to cover that and then pay them back as soon as I had anything spare.’

Bruce also mentioned that certain benefits were not available to him then, such as the first homebuyer scheme and special assistance for essential service workers, which made it relatively easier for her.

These issues plague many millennials today, including freelance photographer Ashley Swallow, who noted that rising living costs have made it difficult to save for a deposit and a future family.

View attachment 28097

Millennials are having a hard time purchasing a home. Credit: Ufuk ZIVANA/Shutterstock

‘Owning a home [and] having a family is definitely something (my partner and I) want to do...but we want a house before we do that. I don’t want to be having my first child at 35. I don’t mind if I buy a house at 35,’ Ashley said.

‘It’s one of those things. It’s kind of held back at the moment because of financial situations,’ she shared.

Ashley shared that she spent her 20s travelling, and despite the pressure, she doesn’t regret her experiences and choice to pursue a career with irregular income.

‘I kind of lived my retirement younger than older. And I’m…ok with that,’ the 30-year-old added.

Another millennial, Xavier George, shared his frustration with the housing market. ‘It’s like, you can do all the right things. You can go to uni and get your degree, and you can get the specialist degree, and you can get promotions... And it kind of just doesn’t matter almost,’ he said.

Xavier has more than 30 per cent of his income allocated to rent while paying off a $100,000 HECS debt.

‘I’m earning more money now on paper than I used to. But I’m definitely not feeling like I earn more money. You know, the cost of life has just grown quicker than my income has,’ Xavier pointed out.

When asked what it will take for him to be a homeowner, Xavier bluntly replied: 'My parents dying, I think.'

‘You know, knock on wood. Sorry, mum. But that’s the windfall. I’m serious about that. That is actually the great tidemark of when a lot of people are going to be able to suddenly buy their own home,’ he explained.

An economist from the University of Sydney, Dr Gareth Bryant, contributed his insights in the episode. He highlighted that the problems millennials are currently facing in relation to buying their own home are very different from those of the older generations.

‘We are talking about two very different problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was an income problem of people being able to afford repayments. But because house prices were much lower, it wasn’t so much of a wealth problem,’ Dr Bryant stated.

He continued: ‘In the late 1990s, house prices were around 2-3 times average incomes depending on where in Australia you were. Now that figure is 7-10 times, meaning the problem is having enough wealth to get into the property market in the first place.’

‘Many Millennials could actually make mortgage repayments but struggle to get the deposit,’ he pointed out.

A recent survey by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found out that young people were doing ‘everything they could’ to save for a deposit on a house purchase.

This includes taking on extra hours and additional jobs, cutting back on spending, willingness to move to outer-suburban and regional areas. But Dr Bryant said that the millennials ‘still found themselves going backwards due to increasing house prices and rising rents’.

‘The smashed avo on toast cliche is most definitely a myth,’ he confirmed.

Dr Bryant also added that the younger generation, Gen Z, will have a harder time penetrating the housing market, and they could be a generation of lifetime renters.

You can watch a clip of the Insight episode here:

​

Key Takeaways

• An Aussie senior, Bruce Jackson, shared his journey of becoming a homeowner in 1984, which involved significant personal sacrifices, including eating 'cheap mince' and never going on holidays.
• Bruce believes his 23-year-old daughter had an easier time entering the property market than he did in his time, despite current concerns over housing affordability.
• Millenials like Ashley Swallow have difficulty buying their own home. In the case of Ashley, she had to be held back due to other financial situations.
• Xavier George, a millennial, expresses frustration over current housing market conditions and fears that only a large unanticipated windfall, such as inheritance, might enable him to buy a home.
• Dr Gareth Bryant, a University of Sydney economist, notes the challenges facing millennials wanting to buy their first home are much different from those faced by the older generation, with housing prices now being 7-10 times average incomes compared to 2-3 times in the late 90s.

What do you think of this story, dear members? Did you have a similar experience to Bruce when you were buying your own home? Share your stories in the comments below!

I did the same. Bought a modest 2br house in Baulkham Hills, paid it off in 10 years, bought a house in Box Hill NSW 5br 18 months old (cash) , and had a healthy super fund of $1,000,000+, no debt. The wife took off with the proceeds. Now I battle to make ends meet on the pension......Oh well... in the end we die and it doesn't mean ZAC.

 

[Rob44]

Owning a house is something that many take for granted, but Aussie senior Bruce Jackson knows firsthand just how precious it is.

When Bruce moved to Albury, New South Wales, from Sydney in 1984 at the age of 25, he set his sights on a $60,000 house and was determined to make it his own.

His dedication to his goal was nothing short of inspiring, with him revealing to SBS Insight that he had to scrimp and save to make his dream a reality.

At the time, Bruce earned an annual salary of $22,000 and had to dedicate 43 per cent of it to paying off his mortgage. His pay amounted to about $100 weekly, around $373 in today's money.

'You’d eat mince every night,' Bruce said. 'And you wouldn’t eat the quality mince. You’d eat the cheap mince.'

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Bruce Jackson shared his experience buying a $60,000 home in the 1980s. Credit: SBS Insight/Facebook

‘I never went on holidays. Never bought a new car. I got given a second-hand car at 17. It was a 17-year-old car then. I’ve still got it,’ Bruce explained. ‘Every spare cent went on paying off that mortgage.’

Aside from eating 'cheap mince' and foregoing the occasional holiday, Bruce also relied on other forms of income to help pay off his mortgage, having rented out the third bedroom of his house to a friend and frequently selling antique furniture in his spare time.

‘Anything that I made from that went straight on that home loan. I tried to pay it off as soon as possible because the interest rates by 1990 had gone to 17.5 per cent. So they just kept going up and up and up,’ he said.

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Bruce later on sold his house for $550,000. Credit: doublelee/Shutterstock

Bruce later sold the house he bought for $60,000 for a whopping $550,000, a great return on investment.

In a modern comparison, Bruce's 23-year-old daughter recently experienced a more straightforward process of buying her own house.

‘She just stayed, living at home when she finished work,’ he shared. ‘And after two years, she said: “Dad, I might have enough for a deposit for a house.”’

Bruce said she found it to be much easier than he did back in 1984. ‘Just the other day, she said, “I don’t know what everyone’s going on about. It really wasn’t that hard.”’

However, Bruce pointed out that he had more struggles as a home buyer than his daughter.

‘When I bought my house, I was never able to pay rates on time. I was never able to pay for the electricity on time. I was always weeks over on electricity,’ he said.

‘Quite often, I’d have to borrow money off other people to cover that and then pay them back as soon as I had anything spare.’

Bruce also mentioned that certain benefits were not available to him then, such as the first homebuyer scheme and special assistance for essential service workers, which made it relatively easier for her.

These issues plague many millennials today, including freelance photographer Ashley Swallow, who noted that rising living costs have made it difficult to save for a deposit and a future family.

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Millennials are having a hard time purchasing a home. Credit: Ufuk ZIVANA/Shutterstock

‘Owning a home [and] having a family is definitely something (my partner and I) want to do...but we want a house before we do that. I don’t want to be having my first child at 35. I don’t mind if I buy a house at 35,’ Ashley said.

‘It’s one of those things. It’s kind of held back at the moment because of financial situations,’ she shared.

Ashley shared that she spent her 20s travelling, and despite the pressure, she doesn’t regret her experiences and choice to pursue a career with irregular income.

‘I kind of lived my retirement younger than older. And I’m…ok with that,’ the 30-year-old added.

Another millennial, Xavier George, shared his frustration with the housing market. ‘It’s like, you can do all the right things. You can go to uni and get your degree, and you can get the specialist degree, and you can get promotions... And it kind of just doesn’t matter almost,’ he said.

Xavier has more than 30 per cent of his income allocated to rent while paying off a $100,000 HECS debt.

‘I’m earning more money now on paper than I used to. But I’m definitely not feeling like I earn more money. You know, the cost of life has just grown quicker than my income has,’ Xavier pointed out.

When asked what it will take for him to be a homeowner, Xavier bluntly replied: 'My parents dying, I think.'

‘You know, knock on wood. Sorry, mum. But that’s the windfall. I’m serious about that. That is actually the great tidemark of when a lot of people are going to be able to suddenly buy their own home,’ he explained.

An economist from the University of Sydney, Dr Gareth Bryant, contributed his insights in the episode. He highlighted that the problems millennials are currently facing in relation to buying their own home are very different from those of the older generations.

‘We are talking about two very different problems. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was an income problem of people being able to afford repayments. But because house prices were much lower, it wasn’t so much of a wealth problem,’ Dr Bryant stated.

He continued: ‘In the late 1990s, house prices were around 2-3 times average incomes depending on where in Australia you were. Now that figure is 7-10 times, meaning the problem is having enough wealth to get into the property market in the first place.’

‘Many Millennials could actually make mortgage repayments but struggle to get the deposit,’ he pointed out.

A recent survey by the University of Sydney for the Australian Government’s Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) found out that young people were doing ‘everything they could’ to save for a deposit on a house purchase.

This includes taking on extra hours and additional jobs, cutting back on spending, willingness to move to outer-suburban and regional areas. But Dr Bryant said that the millennials ‘still found themselves going backwards due to increasing house prices and rising rents’.

‘The smashed avo on toast cliche is most definitely a myth,’ he confirmed.

Dr Bryant also added that the younger generation, Gen Z, will have a harder time penetrating the housing market, and they could be a generation of lifetime renters.

You can watch a clip of the Insight episode here:

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Key Takeaways

• An Aussie senior, Bruce Jackson, shared his journey of becoming a homeowner in 1984, which involved significant personal sacrifices, including eating 'cheap mince' and never going on holidays.
• Bruce believes his 23-year-old daughter had an easier time entering the property market than he did in his time, despite current concerns over housing affordability.
• Millenials like Ashley Swallow have difficulty buying their own home. In the case of Ashley, she had to be held back due to other financial situations.
• Xavier George, a millennial, expresses frustration over current housing market conditions and fears that only a large unanticipated windfall, such as inheritance, might enable him to buy a home.
• Dr Gareth Bryant, a University of Sydney economist, notes the challenges facing millennials wanting to buy their first home are much different from those faced by the older generation, with housing prices now being 7-10 times average incomes compared to 2-3 times in the late 90s.

What do you think of this story, dear members? Did you have a similar experience to Bruce when you were buying your own home? Share your stories in the comments below!

Millennials struggling to pay a deposit on a house? At age 24 this Baby-boomer didn't even dream of being able to do that, At age 28, despite excellent professional qualifications and a job paying around $8 000-$10 000pa I was turned down for a loan to buy a $20 000 house. So my parents lent me $15 000 to buy a borer-eaten place with holes in the tin roof (cloth painted onto the roof fixes those for a while) and needing replastering work to get a couple of rooms functional.

At age 37 we were still struggling to pay off a mortgage on a $65 000 place; sometimes we would run out of cash before the weeks had ended. 3 years later Keating slugged us with with 18-19% interest rates and small businesses with a 23% rate. Which is why a good friend of mine building his own fabrication business went bankrupt. The recession "we had to have". Keating is alright Jack, on his politician's pension.

Millennials? Time to stop whingeing and get involved in Trade Union activity to get decent salaries for all in the community. And don't accept those tax cuts you get bribed with by politicians; they only do that so you will vote for more anti-social rubbish whilst they get perks and lurks that would feed a pensioner couple for a month.

 

[Rob44]

I did the same. Bought a modest 2br house in Baulkham Hills, paid it off in 10 years, bought a house in Box Hill NSW 5br 18 months old (cash) , and had a healthy super fund of $1,000,000+, no debt. The wife took off with the proceeds. Now I battle to make ends meet on the pension......Oh well... in the end we die and it doesn't mean ZAC.

Odd how wives like take off with the proceeds. It happens when they get to around 36-39 years old and the kids can look after themselves biologically after age 8 or 9.

 

[IAN3005]

Odd how wives like take off with the proceeds. It happens when they get to around 36-39 years old and the kids can look after themselves biologically after age 8 or 9.

You are 100% correct.... that is the age my wife and kids were. Lousey bi***. All the same.

 

[Luckyus]

You are 100% correct.... that is the age my wife and kids were. Lousey bi***. All the same.

SO BOTH PARTIES GOT SCREWED!!.

 

[Teddy is my boy]

l. Can’t believe people were able to buy a house then for so little. We bought our first home in qld, a 3 bed 1 bathroom for $21,500 and that was one of the cheaper ones we looked at. Second hand furniture, no holidays until we had paid it off which we did in 6 years.
Of course we didnt buy take away and my husband took lunch to work that l had made for him.

 

[Rob44]

You are 100% correct.... that is the age my wife and kids were. Lousey bi***. All the same.

Yes; it happened to most of my male friends and myself at a similar time. Thus I think it is biological; none of us were wife-beaters or closet psychopaths etc and were paying off the family home's mortage dutifully. Has anyone else noticed how often a wife says "my house" to guests etc when it is in joint names with hubby working to pay the mortgage. Not bitter and twisted; one notices such things when one reflects on a long life and human behaviour.


At about age 8-9 kids know how to throw stones at small birds and eat them and thus it's time for the female's last fling to ensure the female's genes get spread around a bit more.

This is most politically incorrect and unwoke, but there is a pattern to human behaviour. We are, after all, animals.

 

[PattiB]

You are 100% correct.... that is the age my wife and kids were. Lousey bi***. All the same.

No IAN3005 we are not all the same! I’ve been married to the same man for 50 years & we are happier than ever. I also believe that the younger generation, while enjoying privileges we never had, are finding it much harder to put together a deposit for a house. My late father always said that you can’t compare how things were to how they are today so maybe we should stop doing so.

 

[Penny4]

I did the same. Bought a modest 2br house in Baulkham Hills, paid it off in 10 years, bought a house in Box Hill NSW 5br 18 months old (cash) , and had a healthy super fund of $1,000,000+, no debt. The wife took off with the proceeds. Now I battle to make ends meet on the pension......Oh well... in the end we die and it doesn't mean ZAC.

I know of a few devious women who did the same. Divorced their husbands when they retired with a large superfund. Thankfully, I never see them. Makes me wonder how they can be so cold hearted.

 

[Littleboy8]

I did the same. Bought a modest 2br house in Baulkham Hills, paid it off in 10 years, bought a house in Box Hill NSW 5br 18 months old (cash) , and had a healthy super fund of $1,000,000+, no debt. The wife took off with the proceeds. Now I battle to make ends meet on the pension......Oh well... in the end we die and it doesn't mean ZAC.

Don’t you hate those thieving ex’s I doSame happened to me greed is not goodkarma is ,have patience my friend.

 

[MariaG]

45 years ago, we saved most of both wages and purchased a block of land for $3,000 in a suburb that had no water or sewer. All other homes in the little hamlet had water tanks and septic tanks or transpiration areas, seemed happy enough, so we thought beggars can't be choosers.
We lived in a 2 room annex to a corner shop whilst hubby and I owner-built our first home. I did the owner-builder course, got our ticket, drew up our own plans, got them approved and off we went tool belts attached.
It's not an easy venture and you have to be fully committed and alert to the building rules for everything. What hubby (handyman genius) didn't know, we asked friends and family for guidance. So up we went every weekend, and in summer, after work every day to put up the home. It really was the most cost effective way to go. The only labour we paid for was as Council demanded, like sparky and plumber.
When we moved in, the only real furniture we had was beds. We sat on milk crates, used cardboard boxes for dining table, put sheets on the windows and saved up to pay cash for each thing, one by one.
If you are willing to make sacrifices and work hard, most things are achievable. Today, so many young folk have to have all the bells and whistles before being willing to move in. Their choice, but it is a costly way to go when you take in interest payments and the like.
When you compare interest rates today vs the 17-20% of my time, I have to wonder. I could never have committed myself to over 50 years of paying a mortgage. If one is willing to look outside the box and be willing to start in an unpopular area, then, it may be a little more affordable.