Women kick property goals - on their own terms

Buying a home can be exciting, stressful – and expensive. But it’s a step that stands us in good financial stead long term. Home ownership is economically more beneficial over time than renting, and paying off a home loan is a great form of forced savings.   

These benefits all add up, especially in later life. Poverty rates are 42% among renters aged over 65 in Australia, compared with 6% of outright home owners according to the Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research.

With this in mind, it’s great to see a recent CoreLogic report that shows over one in four (26.6%) homes across Australia are owned exclusively by women. That’s just slightly below the 29.9% owned by men. 

Male/female couples still represent the ‘norm’ among home buyers, accounting for ownership of 43.5% of Australian homes. However, there’s no getting around the fact that women are kicking property goals of their own – and they’re doing it solo.

A couple of points about the CoreLogic report really caught my eye.

The first is that the gender pay gap means it can often take women longer to save for a property. Nonetheless, plenty of women are getting into the market by buying apartments rather than houses.

Yes, this can underpin a longer term gender wealth gap as houses typically appreciate at a higher rate than units. But an apartment offers a low maintenance, often very secure, lifestyle that gets buyers into the market – and that first important step on the property ladder is critical to share in the gains of rising property values.

What’s more, women are not always buying in ‘cheapie’ suburbs. I was interested to see that rates of female home ownership in Australia are highest in Greater Sydney (31.9%) – our most expensive property market. It turns out, women are a considerable driving force in the market across Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs (accounting for 37.1% of homes), North Sydney and Hornsby (37.0%) and the city/Inner South (36.2%).

The upshot of CoreLogic’s Women and Property report is that it is possible for women – and men, to buy a home without the backing of a second income. It may mean aiming for a property you can realistically afford rather than your dream home. But it can be done.

Better still, there are a variety of options to get you over the line, from using a guarantor for a home loan, to taking advantage of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme that calls for just 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance. Over 4,500 extra places were added to the Scheme in late January so it’s worth a second look if you’ve previously missed out.

Paul Clitheroe is Chairman of InvestSMART, Chair of the Ecstra Foundation and chief commentator for Money Magazine.