Despite being generally considered the nation’s most prosperous generation almost 38 per cent of baby boomers believe they won’t have enough money to fund their retirement, a new report by Realestateview.com.au has claimed.

Released today, the Baby Boomer Report, which surveyed more than 2,500 Australian’s aged 50 to 69, also warned that a third of them are uncomfortable with current house prices.

Petra Sprekos, general manager of Realestateview.com.au, said with 36.6 per cent of those surveyed looking to buy a home for less than $400,000 an affordable housing grant could be the solution.

“There is a need to find a way to get them into more affordable housing,” Ms Sprekos said.

“It’s a bit like the first homebuyer grant, the government introduced the building grant to help stimulate them to build a new home. And there’s definitely an opportunity for doing that with the baby boomer and older generations.

“Affordability will continue to be an issue long term and there’s definitely opportunity for intervention in that area similar to what they did with the first homebuyers.”

RP Data Victorian spokesman Robert Larocca noted the idea could have merit, but may function better as a stamp duty reduction.

“There is a concession to (Victorian) pensioners, which is a bit of a nod towards that idea,” Mr Larocca said.

In Victoria pensioners with an eligible concession card may be exempt from paying stamp duty for properties purchased for $330,000 or less, while a stamp duty concession is given for those spending up to $750,000, according to the State Revenue Office website.

Mr Larocca added that efforts to encourage retirees to downsize may help free up family sized homes for younger buyers.

On this, the Baby Boomers Report revealed 47.5 per cent still lived in their family home, with the figures even higher in Victoria at 50.7 per cent, while only 44.3 per cent of those surveyed in NSW were still living in the family home.

Affordability was more of a concern in NSW, where more than 60 per cent were either uncomfortable with house prices or being out priced by others in the market, compared to a national average of 49 per cent.

However Queenslanders and South Australian’s were the most comfortable with the price of the property market, with 59.14 per cent and 56.7 per cent of them respectively unfazed by current prices.

Just over half those surveyed in Western Australia felt comfortable with prices at present.

And affordability concerns will likely get worse in the future, according to the baby boomers. About 56 per cent of those surveyed felt younger generations would have a tougher time getting onto the property ladder than they did.

Victorian baby boomers were the most affluent, with more than 40 per cent looking to purchase a home for more than $600,000 including 10.9 per cent of them prepared to pay over $1 million.

Nationwide more than two thirds of baby boomers had a budget of less than $600,000.

Source:news.com.au

676 total views, 2 today