Buying back into the city’s property market has meant the 53-year-old has had to make some sacrifices.<\/p>\n
Chief among them: moving back in with his elderly mother.<\/p>\n
“I think we anticipated maybe spending a couple of months at my mum’s place and saving up for a deposit,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s been three and a half years now.<\/p>\n
“Having grown up in the street we’re now living in, we’ve seen [house prices] go from bugger all to astronomical prices in our area.”Sacrifices to save a deposit<\/p>\n
Property prices have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, with the median home now selling for about $1 million.<\/p>\n The rental market can be even harder to crack, with the Gold Coast overtaking Sydney as the country’s most expensive <\/a>place to rent.<\/p>\n Gold Coast property price boom<\/a><\/p>\n Gold Coast property prices have outpaced every Australian capital city over the past five years.<\/p>\n In an effort to beat that, Mr Atwood and his wife rent a portion of his mum’s five-bedroom property for a fraction of what they’d pay elsewhere.<\/p>\n “If we’d gone on the standard rental market, I doubt we would have anything left over,” he said.<\/p>\n Mr Atwood says moving back in with his mother has been a means to an end that will enable him and his wife to buy a house next year.<\/p>\n “The only thing is having to live with your mum after all these years, which is at times challenging.”<\/p>\n The sacrifice has started to pay off, with the couple now feeling as though they’ve scraped together enough of a deposit to put home ownership in reach.<\/p>\n Gold Coast Australia’s most expensive rental market <\/a><\/p>\n Real estate experts say the Gold Coast’s high concentration of luxury housing and persistent shortages in new construction are sustaining upward pressure on rentals.<\/p>\n “I think we may be able to do it next year, but age 53 \u2026 it does concern me going into retirement,” Mr Atwood said.<\/p>\n “That [home] would probably not be paid off, and that’s after even owning a place [in a previous marriage].”<\/p>\n Growing number of retirees have mortgage debt<\/p>\n By 2031, peak housing body National Shelter estimates 440,000 older households will be unable to find or afford suitable housing.<\/p>\n CEO Jackson Hills said that was sending more people towards retirement with major debt.<\/p>\n Jackson Hills says housing affordability has worsened significantly across the country. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)<\/p>\n “This is an issue and we’re seeing it for people going through separations or other life circumstances \u2026 people don’t have the safety net to be able to meet a deposit hurdle,” Mr Hills said.<\/p>\n With more people moving to the Gold Coast each week, he said it was critical to have a range of housing options available in the city to cater to different income groups.<\/p>\n “We’ve seen an escalation of people on lower incomes being forced to relocate from urban areas out to the fringes,” Mr Hills said.<\/p>\n “When that’s forced upon you, it’s an entirely different thing \u2026 we need a variety of housing options.”<\/p>\n The median house price on the Gold Coast has tipped $1-million. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n Home ownership rates slip<\/p>\n Mr Atwood’s tale of moving back home to save a deposit is far from a one-off, according to Bond University property expert Dr Johari Amar.<\/p>\n Dr Amar said she was aware of four adults in her circle that were in a similar situation.<\/p>\n “Home ownership is decreasing on the Gold Coast and Queensland,” she said.<\/p>\n “ABS data in 1996 sat at 80 per cent. By 2021 that dropped to 72 per cent.”<\/p>\n Dr Amar says people moving back in with parents has become commonplace. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n With an influx of internal migration to the city, estimated to be more than 400 new residents to the Gold Coast each week, Dr Amar said more people were competing for the same number of homes, forcing prices up further.<\/p>\n “If there’s no new supply \u2026 people who have got extra income would be able to outbid other people that cannot afford so that’s where the issue sits,” she said.<\/p>\n The solution isn’t straightforward, with concerns Queensland embracing the abolishment of stamp duty for buyers out of the market for five years, like in the ACT, <\/a>could worsen the already booming market.<\/p>\n “It could work but, without new supply, we’re still competing for the same number of homes, so again it’s making sure there’s a balance between supply and demand,” Dr Amar said.<\/p>\n Mr Atwood and his wife feel positive that by next year they’ll be able to buy. (ABC News: Glenn Mullane)<\/p>\n![\"Close](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2f88201bfd2a8bb5b868389ba23c6ff2.jpeg\")
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