Victorians see faster path to saving a house deposit, despite rental affordability

22 June 2023

• Victorians are more optimistic than those in NSW and QLD about saving for a home deposit
• 4 out of 10 Victorian renters say they could save enough for a home deposit in five years
• Victoria had the lowest proportion of renters who felt a home deposit was out of reach.

Victorians are more optimistic than their northern counterparts when it comes to saving for a home deposit, with just over four in 10 renters (40.4%) in the southern state saying they would be able to save for their deposit within five years, significantly more than in NSW (28.2%) and Queensland (33%).

The new research* from customer-owned Great Southern Bank also found Victoria had the lowest proportion of renters who felt that saving for a home deposit was out of reach, with 15.8% of Victorians saying the goal was unattainable, compared to 19% of respondents in both NSW and Queensland.

Megan Keleher, Chief Customer Officer at Great Southern Bank, said: “Rents, inflation and the cost of living, are all making it harder to save for a deposit – whether you live in Melbourne or regional Victoria. Melbourne has recently overtaken Sydney as Australia’s largest city and against that backdrop, it’s encouraging to see that optimism about owning a home remains high.”

Across all three states there is strong evidence that, in order to save a deposit for their first home, renters are choosing to live in the least expensive accommodation. Among those who are saving for a deposit, the majority (56.2%) are paying under $600 a week in rent and one in six (17%) have found a way to pay no rent at all. Just over 15% of home-savers are paying $600-800 per week, while one in 10 face an uphill battle saving a deposit while outlaying $800+ per week on rent.

“Saving for a deposit can mean thinking about things differently, like renting further out where it’s cheaper or moving back home with parents,” Ms Keleher said. “In fact, one of the biggest hurdles to home ownership is building the deposit, which is why Government support through initiatives like the Home Guarantee Scheme is so important in helping Australians to buy their own home.”

To help more Australians with home ownership, Great Southern Bank recently provided $2 million in long-term financing to not-for-profit housing provider National Affordable Housing. The funds will support low-moderate income Victorians to buy a home without a deposit through the BuyAssist shared equity program.

* The survey was conducted in April 2023 among 1,000 Australians in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

About Great Southern Bank

For over 75 years, we’ve been putting our customers first, and today we look after the financial needs of more than 387,000 Australians. We have changed our name from CUA to Great Southern Bank but we remain customer owned and firmly focused on helping all Australians own their own homes.