Housing in Australia is expensive – there’s nothing new about that. But lately, I’ve started wondering how exy house prices affect renovation activity.
Recent HIA figures show that the renovations market is pretty flat. I’d love to see a breakdown of demographics to see which age groups are busy remodelling and who’s stuck on the sidelines.
My hunch is that it’s the younger market that’s been sat out of the renovation game. My reasoning is simple (and perhaps slightly stereotyped). Young people generally have less money and can’t afford to buy property. If they don’t own a home, they can’t renovate it. Simple. Well, in my mind, anyway!
I own my own home. Correction – the bank owns my tiny 2-bedroom apartment. It fronts onto the main road, and when the leaves drop off the tree outside, the fairies in the station across the road can look directly into my bedroom window. But I’m not complaining – because I feel lucky that I can stake a claim on even the littlest piece (80sqm to be exact) of one of the world’s most expensive cities.
As a 29-year-old Sydney property owner, I’m in the minority. Most of my friends aren’t in the market, and with the news that house prices are set to increase further, they might never own their own homes, which means no renovations.
You can have all the renovation inspiration in the world, but if you’re stuck in a rented apartment and don’t have your own home to decorate, then it’s likely your grand remodelling plans won’t make it past Pinterest.
I scrimped and saved for years to get into the market and was only able to get my deposit over the line thanks to a welcome cash boost from the first homeowners grant. I’ve made it work, but I don’t have much room to move – and I certainly don’t have any extra cash for renovations.
Like so many people I know, I daydream about affording a beautiful CaesarStone island bench for my kitchen and new hardwood floors.
I’m lucky that this still may be a possibility – one day, but for the moment, I have to satisfy my creative urge with a couple of pretty prints on the walls or a scattering of colourful cushions!