- Two-thirds of Australian home loan savers feel they have to choose between their dream job and buying a home
- Bluestone Home Loans chief customer officer James Angus said people are reassessing their priorities
- Mr Angus said, "Lenders need to take a more holistic, and human, approach to their lending criteria."
Two-thirds of Australian home loan savers feel they have to choose between their dream job and buying a home, according to a new Bluestone Home Loans survey.
67% of savers and 55% of borrowers feel compelled to stay in their current job or career instead of pursuing their dream job to improve their chances of being approved for a home loan.
Bluestone Home Loans chief customer officer James Angus said, “There’s much talk at the moment about The Great Resignation as people reassess their priorities in the wake of COVID-19.
“As home loan affordability has sharply declined over the past few years and lending restrictions have tightened, Australian borrowers have had to make difficult choices about whether to pursue their dream job or to buy a house.”
The survey found:
- Millennials (72%) are more likely than older generations (54% of Gen X, 24% of Baby Boomers, and 13% of the Silent Generation) to feel this way.
- Feeling trapped in their current job or career is also more common among those with children under 18 at home than among those without (72% compared to 40%)
- Those in NSW are more likely to feel this way (59%), compared to 49% of Victorians, 43% of South Australians, 42% of Queenslanders, and 38% of those in Tasmania, Northern Territory and ACT
- Those with higher incomes are just as likely, if not more likely to feel compelled to stay in their current job or career (60% of those with $100l-$149k household income and 57% of those earning $150k+ compared to 49% of those earning $50k-$99k and 42% of those earning <$50k)
More than one in three (36%) of borrowers believe that pursuing their dream job has hurt their chances of buying a home or being approved for a home loan and more than half (53%) of savers believe it will hurt their chances when it comes time to buy their house.
The survey found:
- Gen Z and Millenials are more likely than the older generations to have been or be in this position (64% and 54% respectively, compared to 40% of Gen X, 15% of Baby Boomers and 9% of the Silent Generation)
- This is also more common among those with children under 18 at home than among those without (57% compared to 28%)
- 42% of NSW residents believe pursuing their dream job has or will hurt their chances of being approved for a home loan compared to 32% of Queenslanders
- Close to half (47%) of those with $100k-$149k household income have been or are in this position, compared to 38% of those earning $50k-$99k, 33% of those earnings $150k+, and 28% of those earning <$50k
For those borrowers not already in their dream job, 40% were planning to pursue their preferred career path within five years of buying their home, with 25% planning to change jobs/careers within the next two years.
10% were planning to wait more than five years while 50% had no plans to pursue their dream career.
“Lenders need to take a more holistic, and human, approach to their lending criteria, particularly when many of us don’t conform to the stereotype of what makes a good borrower.”
