Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses
The homeownership prospects of young people are declining globally. There have been widespread public concerns regarding barriers posed by unaffordable housing markets and tighter borrowing constraints, but equally a recognition that parental assistance can overcome these constraints. At the same ti...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
2025
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT200100422 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97045 |
| _version_ | 1848766218611195904 |
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| author | ViforJ, Rachel Ong Hewton, Jack Phelps, Christopher |
| author_facet | ViforJ, Rachel Ong Hewton, Jack Phelps, Christopher |
| author_sort | ViforJ, Rachel Ong |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The homeownership prospects of young people are declining globally. There have been widespread public concerns regarding barriers posed by unaffordable housing markets and tighter borrowing constraints, but equally a recognition that parental assistance can overcome these constraints. At the same time, public commentary often suggests that young people exhibit behaviours that are not conducive to saving for home purchase. This paper tests the relative importance of competing hypotheses regarding the barriers to homeownership among young people using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. We find strong evidence that affordability constraints in the form of unaffordable housing markets and binding borrowing constraints are key barriers to homeownership. These constraints can be mitigated in the presence of intergenerational support as receipt of parental transfers in excess of AU$5000 quadruples the odds of achieving ownership. Poor saving habits, short-term financial planning and labour market precarities have negative impacts on homeownership prospects, but they are relatively less important drivers of homeownership attainment than affordability constraints and parental transfers. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:47:39Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-97045 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:47:39Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-970452025-03-04T01:30:26Z Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses ViforJ, Rachel Ong Hewton, Jack Phelps, Christopher The homeownership prospects of young people are declining globally. There have been widespread public concerns regarding barriers posed by unaffordable housing markets and tighter borrowing constraints, but equally a recognition that parental assistance can overcome these constraints. At the same time, public commentary often suggests that young people exhibit behaviours that are not conducive to saving for home purchase. This paper tests the relative importance of competing hypotheses regarding the barriers to homeownership among young people using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. We find strong evidence that affordability constraints in the form of unaffordable housing markets and binding borrowing constraints are key barriers to homeownership. These constraints can be mitigated in the presence of intergenerational support as receipt of parental transfers in excess of AU$5000 quadruples the odds of achieving ownership. Poor saving habits, short-term financial planning and labour market precarities have negative impacts on homeownership prospects, but they are relatively less important drivers of homeownership attainment than affordability constraints and parental transfers. 2025 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97045 10.1002/psp.70004 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT200100422 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Wiley-Blackwell fulltext |
| spellingShingle | ViforJ, Rachel Ong Hewton, Jack Phelps, Christopher Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title | Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title_full | Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title_fullStr | Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title_short | Barriers to Homeownership Among Young People in Australia: Unpacking Competing Hypotheses |
| title_sort | barriers to homeownership among young people in australia: unpacking competing hypotheses |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FT200100422 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97045 |