A new report reveals Australians are forgoing marriage in favour of a mortgage.
Aussie Home Loans has examined tens of thousands of mortgage settlements between 2010 and 2024 and found that Australian homebuyers are increasingly saying “I do” to home ownership, with the number of home loans approved to unmarried couples having jumped by 80 per cent since 2015.
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Sorry, love. Can’t afford it. Pic: iStock.
According to the research, de facto mortgages made up just 15 per cent of all mortgages by the mortgage broker in 2015, but today this figure sits at 27 per cent as Australian couples shun traditional milestones in order to achieve their financial goals.
Here’s how it breaks down in Australia’s major cities.
SYDNEY
Engaged couple Alanna de Bris and Dylan Hanney were planning their dream wedding but it quickly turned into a nightmare when quotes started flooding in around the $90,000 mark.
They came to a swift realisation, one that is increasingly guiding the relationship landscape across Sydney: instead of getting married, they’re getting a mortgage.
The average wedding in NSW costs nearly $50,000, while a 20 per cent deposit for a median priced Sydney home ($1.1m) would set you back around $220,000.
Dylan Hanney and Alanna De Bris have chosen a mortgage over marriage due to the huge cost of weddings and the need for hefty deposits to get into the property market. Picture: Rohan Kelly
“It just didn’t stack up to pay that much money for one day,” Mr Hanney said, adding that the extravagant cost of a wedding would scupper their chances of home ownership.
“A lot of the advice we were getting from family and friends who had a wedding said there’s no point to pay that much money that you wouldn’t get back, especially when we still need to pay rent and we want to buy a house,” he said.
MELBOURNE
With Aussie Home Loans analysis showing the average $47,200 wedding cost in Victoria equates to as much as 53 per cent of a median-priced house deposit in some suburbs, it’s no wonder many first-home buyers are instead vowing until debt do us part.
However, experts are tipping the Reserve Bank’s recent rate cut will give some young buyers more borrowing power, meaning improved capacity to achieve their dreams of both bricks and mortar and heading to the altar.
You can forget that. Victorian couples are saying I do to debt, not their partners. Pic: Supplied.
According to Aussie Home Loans’ research, de facto couples made up 15 per cent of the nation’s total home loans in 2015.
Today, unmarried partners account for almost a third for Australian mortgage holders.
Wedding directory website Australian Bridal Industry Academy puts the Victorian wedding’s average cost at $47,200.
This figure would cover more than a quarter of an average-priced $890,300 Victorian house’s 20 per cent deposit ($178,060) – or 53 per cent for a 10 per cent deposit ($89,030).
BRISBANE
Aussie Home Loans analysed mortgage settlements between 2010 and 2024 and found de facto couples now account for 27 per cent of all home loans — up from 15 per cent a decade ago.
With the average Australian wedding costing more than $40,000, couples are delaying tying the knot amid sky-high property prices and soaring living costs.
In Queensland, a typical wedding costs slightly less at $31,900, but that’s around one-fifth of a standard 20 per cent deposit for a typical house priced around $900,000.
Buyers agent Lauren Jones. Pic: Supplied
Brisbane buyers’ agent Lauren Jones said buying a home together was fast becoming the first serious commitment for young couples, ahead of getting hitched or having kids.
“Very rarely now do I have a young couple aged under 25 who are married,” Ms Jones said.
“First home buyers will save the lump of cash for a home deposit and then it comes down to two options — do we get married and spend that money on one wedding day, or do we invest in the future and buy the house?
ADELAIDE
In SA, the deposit headstart to would-be buyers by forgoing expensive nuptials are significant.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the average wedding cost in South Australia in 2024 was $40,000 – 24.52 per cent of the 20 per cent deposit needed for a $815,500 home, Adelaide’s average house price.
None of this hipster stuff for SA couples. It’s a house they want. Pic: Supplied.
It would make up a whopping 49 per cent of the cash needed for a 10 per cent deposit.
Ray White SA’s chief auctioneer John Morris said he had been seeing more and more de facto couples buying under the hammer as a way of getting into the market.
“A $40,000 wedding – $40,000’s what you’d be paying roughly in stamp duty and government charges, so a lot of young people have seen that by forgoing the wedding, for now at least, they can really make, what is not an insignificant amount, work for them and use it to get a foot on the property ladder.”
