For years, Australians have been told that property is one of the best long-term investments you can make. More recently, though, the conversation has shifted. Scroll through the news today and you’ll find story after story about soaring house prices, interest rates staying higher for longer, first home buyers being priced out of the market and investors questioning whether property is still worth it.
None of those headlines are made up. They reflect genuine challenges, and for many Australians they’re a daily reality. The problem is that headlines are designed to explain what’s happening across an entire country. They can’t tell you what’s possible for an individual family, a couple saving for their first home, or someone who’s owned a property for a few years and is wondering what comes next.
That’s where we think a lot of people unintentionally rule themselves out.
Every week we speak with people who have already decided buying isn’t possible. They’ve done the maths in their head, compared themselves to the national average and concluded they need to save for another five years, wait for interest rates to fall or earn significantly more money before it’s worth having a conversation.
Sometimes they’re right.
Often, they’re working from assumptions that simply don’t tell the whole story.
Buying property has become more challenging than it was a decade ago. There’s no point pretending otherwise. But “more challenging” and “impossible” aren’t the same thing, and understanding the difference can completely change the way you think about your next move.
Here are seven things we think every Australian should know before deciding home ownership is out of reach.
1. Most buyers don’t put down a 20% deposit.
If there were a list of Australia’s biggest property myths, this would probably sit at the top.
Ask someone how much deposit you need to buy a home and there’s a good chance they’ll answer, “20%.” It’s advice that’s been repeated for decades, and in many ways it’s understandable. A 20% deposit is a strong position to be in. It generally gives you more choice, helps you avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance and means you’re borrowing less from day one.
What often gets lost is that 20% has never been the only way to buy property.
Today, there are buyers entering the market with 5% deposits through government-backed schemes. Others use a guarantor, allowing a family member to use part of the equity in their own home to help secure the loan. Existing homeowners often use equity they’ve already built instead of saving another cash deposit, while some buyers combine savings with gifted funds from family or the proceeds of selling another property.
Notice the common theme? None of those options are unusual, yet they rarely feature in mainstream property stories.
That’s not to say every buyer qualifies for every pathway. They don’t. The point is that the conversation shouldn’t start with “Do I have 20%?” It should start with “What options are available to someone in my position?”
They’re very different questions, and the answer can dramatically change your timeline.
2. Your borrowing capacity may have changed without you realising.
One of the biggest assumptions people make is that if they couldn’t buy a home a few years ago, the answer is probably still the same today.
It seems logical. If your income hasn’t changed dramatically, why would your borrowing capacity?
The reality is, borrowing capacity is far more dynamic than most people realise.
Yes, your income matters, but so do dozens of other factors. Paying off a car loan, reducing the limit on a credit card you never use, returning to work after parental leave, building a stronger savings history or simply being in the same job for longer can all influence how a lender views your application.
Then there are the changes happening behind the scenes.
Banks don’t all assess borrowers the same way, and their policies don’t stay the same forever. Some lenders are more generous when it comes to overtime, bonuses or rental income. Others are more comfortable lending to self-employed borrowers or families returning to work after having children. Lending policy is constantly evolving, which means the answer you received two or three years ago may not be the answer you’d receive today.
We’ve seen people rule themselves out because they were relying on a borrowing estimate they received years earlier. By the time they came back for another review, their circumstances had changed, lending policies had changed, and suddenly the conversation looked very different.
The lesson? Don’t assume your borrowing capacity is set in stone. If it’s been a while since you’ve had it reviewed, you may be making decisions based on information that’s already out of date.
3. Your next deposit might already be sitting in your current home.
One of the biggest misconceptions we hear from existing homeowners is that buying their next property means starting all over again.
The thinking usually goes something like this: “We spent years saving the deposit for this house, so we’ll need to spend another few years saving the deposit for the next one.”
Sometimes that’s true.
But often, it’s not.
Your current home may have already been quietly building wealth in the background.
If your property has increased in value over the years and you’ve been paying down your home loan, you’ve likely built equity. Depending on your circumstances, a portion of that equity may be available to help fund your next purchase.
Let’s use a simple example.
Imagine you bought your home five years ago for $700,000. Today it’s worth $900,000, and over that time you’ve also reduced your loan balance. You haven’t just built equity on paper, you’ve potentially created an opportunity to use some of that value to help purchase your next property.
That’s why experienced investors don’t always spend years saving cash deposits between purchases. They’re often using the equity they’ve already built to help them move forward.
Of course, equity isn’t free money, and it’s certainly not a reason to rush out and buy another property. Any decision to access equity should fit comfortably within your broader financial goals, borrowing capacity and risk tolerance.
The important point is this.
If you’ve owned your home for a number of years, don’t automatically assume you’re starting from scratch.
Before you spend years trying to save another deposit, it may be worth finding out whether you’ve already built one.
4. The “average house price” probably isn’t relevant to you.
Every few weeks there’s another headline announcing Australia’s median house price, or how much values have risen or fallen in one of the capital cities.
They’re interesting statistics, and they’re useful for understanding what’s happening across the broader market.
The problem is, you’re not buying the Australian property market.
You’re buying one property.
In one suburb.
Within one budget.
Yet it’s amazing how many people talk themselves out of buying because they’ve seen a headline about Sydney house prices, or they’ve heard the median price in Canberra has reached another record.
Those numbers tell an important story, but they don’t necessarily tell your story.
The property market isn’t one giant market moving in the same direction. Different cities perform differently. Different suburbs perform differently. Even within the same suburb, houses, townhouses and apartments can all experience different levels of demand.
A first home buyer looking for a two-bedroom apartment isn’t competing for the same properties as a growing family searching for a four-bedroom house. An investor chasing strong rental returns is often looking in a completely different market again.
That’s why national averages can sometimes do more harm than good.
They encourage people to compare themselves with a market they may never buy in.
Instead of asking, “Can I afford the average house in Australia?” a far better question is, “What can I afford in the market I’m actually buying in?”
They’re very different questions, and the answers are often very different too.
5. Waiting for lower interest rates could actually make buying harder.
If you’re holding off buying until interest rates come down, you’re certainly not alone.
It’s one of the most common things we hear.
On the surface, it makes perfect sense. Lower interest rates generally mean lower repayments and, in many cases, improved borrowing capacity. Why wouldn’t you wait?
The part that’s often overlooked is what happens when everyone else is waiting for exactly the same thing.
Lower interest rates don’t just make buying more affordable. They also give more buyers the confidence to re-enter the market. People who have been sitting on the sidelines suddenly start attending inspections again. Auction clearance rates often improve. Competition increases, and sellers find themselves with more interested buyers.
We’ve seen this happen before.
By the time the headlines are celebrating lower interest rates, the market has often already started responding.
That’s why the cheapest interest rate doesn’t always lead to the cheapest property.
This isn’t to suggest you should rush into buying before the next Reserve Bank decision. Trying to “beat the market” is just as risky as trying to perfectly time it.
The better question isn’t whether interest rates are about to move. It’s whether you’re in a position to act when the right opportunity presents itself.
For some people, waiting will absolutely be the right decision.
For others, waiting for the “perfect” market could simply mean competing against more buyers in six or twelve months’ time.
The reality is, nobody knows exactly what property prices or interest rates will do next.
That’s why it’s usually more valuable to understand your own position than spend all your energy trying to predict the market’s.
6. The question isn’t “Can I buy?” It’s “Have I actually checked?”
If there’s one thing we hope this article has highlighted, it’s that buying property is rarely as straightforward as the headlines make it seem.
Some people will read this and discover they already have more options than they realised. Others might confirm they’re not quite ready yet, and that’s okay too. There’s nothing wrong with waiting if waiting is genuinely the right decision for your circumstances.
What concerns us is when people rule themselves out without ever finding out where they actually stand.
We’ve had conversations with people who were convinced they needed another $100,000 saved before buying. Others believed returning from maternity leave meant they couldn’t get a loan, or assumed a conversation they’d had with a bank three years ago was still relevant today. Sometimes those assumptions are correct. Quite often, they’re not.
The point isn’t that everyone can buy today. They can’t.
The point is that every property journey is different, and trying to apply one headline, one interest rate or one national statistic to every Australian simply doesn’t work. The media reports on trends. Brokers work with individuals. Those two things will never be the same.
That’s why we’d encourage you to stop asking, “Can I buy?” and start asking, “Have I actually checked?”
They’re similar questions, but they produce very different outcomes.
One is based on assumption.
The other is based on information.
Final thoughts
Buying a home today is undoubtedly more challenging than it was a decade ago.
House prices are higher. Interest rates aren’t where they were a few years ago. Saving a deposit can feel overwhelming, and there’s no shortage of headlines reminding us of that every day.
But after helping thousands of Australians buy their first home, upgrade, refinance or invest, we’ve learnt something that’s just as true today as it was ten years ago.
There is no such thing as the “average” buyer.
Every person has a different income, different goals, different savings, different opportunities and different challenges. That’s why broad headlines, while important, can only ever tell part of the story.
The rest of the story is yours.
Maybe you’ll discover you need another year or two to reach your goal. Maybe you’ll confirm that waiting is the right decision. Or maybe you’ll find out you’re much closer than you thought.
You’ll never know until someone looks at your circumstances instead of Australia’s.
If there’s one thing we hope you take away from this article, it’s this:
Don’t make one of the biggest financial decisions of your life based on assumptions. Make it based on facts.
Ready to find out where you stand?
If you’re wondering whether buying your first home, upgrading or investing is actually possible, we’d love to help you find out.
A Strategy Session isn’t about selling you a loan or convincing you to buy before you’re ready. It’s simply an opportunity to look at your current position, understand your options and give you a clear picture of what’s possible.
Sometimes that conversation ends with a plan to buy sooner than expected. Sometimes it ends with a strategy to get there over the next few years.
Either way, you’ll walk away with something far more valuable than another headline.
You’ll have clarity.
Book your free 30-minute finance strategy session and let’s explore your options.
About the Author
Since 2008, David Thomas has built a business aimed at servicing the needs of property investors, owner occupiers and small business owners. David is recognised as one of the top 10 independent mortgage brokerages in the country, David and his team have settled almost billions of dollars worth of residential and investment loans over the last decade.
Known for his straightforward, relatable style, David believes by educating people about property funding; they fare better in the market. By sharing his expertise openly, some of the people he educates will likely become his clients. It's a win-win approach.
David Thomas is a credit representative (Representative Number 506153) of BLSSA Pty Ltd, ACN 117 651 760 (Australian Credit Licence 391237).