11th May 2012: To Rent or Buy?

Generation Y's Property Double Act

A new breed of home buyers is answering the old 'rent or buy' question by doing both.

Increasingly, due to issues of affordability and heightened concerns about lifestyle and long-term commitments, Generation Y investors now entering the property market as they establish careers and begin to think about future housing needs, are bucking the traditional approach.

Instead of just searching for a family home in the suburbs – looking outwards from the CBD until their budget meets the prevailing price – they are finding different ways of becoming real estate owners.

Last year a survey of aspiring Generation Y (roughly those born between 1980 and 1992) property buyers by mortgage broker Mortgage Choice found that 43 per cent intended to make their first purchase an investment property. Renting in one place, or even living at home with patient parents, while buying somewhere else is now a commonly held plan.

Read some real life experiences and more about this topic on Domain.

You can share your experiences with us, using your Facebook account! (Now that is VERY Gen Y…).