A Melbourne dad has splashed out $680,000 on a house for his 10-year-old daughter amid fears she will never be able to break into the property market on her own … and he’s not alone.
Bernhard and Janette Walther picked up the two-bedroom Frankston cottage at auction in October after outbidding two other buyers.
The couple hope to give the property to daughter Victoria when she’s older, they told The Age.
Mr Walther said younger generations have little chance of securing the future without help from their parents.
“I would think that kids her age, later on, they will never be able to buy something any more,” he said.
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Bernhard and Janette Walther spent $680,000 on a house for their daughter, Victoria.
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“I think property prices will continue to go up because it looks like we are getting more and more population in this country.
“Australia is the size of Europe with only 30 million people and definitely more people will come.”
The Walthers have paid off the mortgage on their existing home and spent four years scouring the market for a good investment opportunity before settling on the Frankston cottage.
In those four years the median price for a two-bedroom house in Frankston rose from $480,000 to $580,000.
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The cottage sold at auction with three active bidders.
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The couple plan to rent out the Frankston property until Victoria is ready to move in.
The Walthers’ move to secure Victoria’s future isn’t a new one, with data showing almost half of Aussie parents fear their children will never afford to buy a home.
Not only that, but many parents are bracing for the need to step in to help their children in the future
While the real estate boom has made many homeowners wealthier than ever on paper, the 2022 survey of parents of teenagers aged 13-18 found 47 per cent believed it was already impossible for their children to ever buy a home.
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The Walthers are worried their daughter will never be able to afford a home on her own.
Commissioned by the Financial Basics Foundation and Suncorp, the survey found almost a third of parents (32 per cent) believed that it wouldn’t be until later in life that their children would be able to afford property – much later than it was for earlier generations.
It also found that 5 per cent of the 1,000 parents surveyed were bracing to have to help their child buy a property when the time came.
Half of the parents surveyed had discussed rising interest rates with their teenagers and the impact it had on mortgage repayments and family finances, while the other half said their children were oblivious to what was happening.
