Three-quarters of first-home buyers are planning to buy a house as lower interest rates and cheaper dwellings make their dream more affordable, a survey says.
The 2009 Mortgage Choice survey of 1012 first homebuyers shows 76% of respondents currently want to purchase a house, up from 54% a year before, with 16% intending to buy a flat.
Mortgage Choice senior corporate affairs manager Kristy Sheppard said falling interest rates, stable house prices and the first home owner grant boost had made property more affordable for possible buyers.
"Australians who are about to buy their first home appear to be entering the market with more confidence than their predecessors," Ms Sheppard said.
"It's great to see our survey results showing first homebuyers-to-be are considering all of their options when it comes to owning their own place - whether it is a short-term savings plan to boost their deposit, making sacrifices to achieve their long-term goals, or buying with a partner to share the responsibility."
Since September, the Reserve Bank of Australia has lowered official interest rates by four percentage points to a 45-year low of 3.25%.
In mid-October, the federal government doubled the first home owners grant for established dwellings to $14,000 and tripled it ot $21,000 for newly built houses.
Ms Sheppard said while loan repayments could rise considerably in time, houses had become more affordable recently.
"Home ownership, for many, is at present a realistic achievement," she said.
Eight per cent of survey respondents intending to purchase before the end of 2009 indicated they would rely just on the government's grant, while another eight per cent had not started saving but would do so before buying.
The time to repay a mortgage concerned 52% of first home buyers, while 47% were worried about not the loan repayments, the survey said.
Fewer respondents said they would make sacrifices to buy a home from a year earlier, 71% from 91%.
Reducing spending was the greatest form of sacrifice, 93%, followed by forgoing a holiday, 59%.
Ms Sheppard said some sacrifices would have to be made to own a home.
"The number of people planning to sacrifice is considerably down on last year's figures might indicate first homebuyers-to-be are in a better financial position than those before them and are taking advantage of the first home owner boost and improved market conditions as a means to get their foot in the door sooner," she said.
AAP