Aussies’ ability to buy a home in 2026 will increasingly come down to their relationship with six words: the bank of mum and dad.
Research from Finder.com.au has revealed home purchases are becoming increasingly challenging for those without access to parental financial help.
But it’s that parental help that’s also distorting housing, creating a “two-tier” market where those with monetary help are getting into houses, while those who don’t have it are being pushed to the sidelines.
Finder.com.au polling showed 52 per cent of first-home buyers rely on parents – whether it’s money, living at home, or acting as loan guarantor – with some even receiving inheritances.
Another 17 per cent worked a second job to get a deposit together.
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The median price of a capital city house is over $1m.
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The government’s First Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows buyers to use 5 per cent deposits without needing to pay lenders’ mortgage insurance, was another popular way into the market but numbers are not yet available on the uptake of the program.
By contrast, smaller numbers of buyers managed by cutting luxuries: only 3 per cent cancelled a gym membership, 5 per cent stopped buying takeaway coffee, and 9 per cent reduced online shopping.
Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke said the divide was widening.
“For many young buyers, purchasing property without assistance feels almost impossible,” he said.
“Those who can lean on mum and dad are typically entering the market not just sooner, but in a much stronger position. This adds to the inequality in the market for those who don’t have this option.”
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Finder’s head of consumer research Graham Cooke.
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Finder’s First Home Buyer Report 2025 found the average deposit was $135,589.
This was more than a full year of the average wage and 13 per cent higher than three years ago.
It took most buyers almost five and a half years to save that sum, and 11 per cent took more than a decade.
Nearly 90 per cent of buyers said saving had become harder in the past three years, and 45 per cent now regret their purchase, mainly for paying too much (26 per cent) or not saving enough (11 per cent).
Scott Kuru from Freedom Property Investors told Finder polling that parental help was shifting the housing market.
“It’s clear many younger people are only getting into the property market with help from older (and usually cashed up) family members.”
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Housing affordability hit a record low in 2024.
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Mala Raghavan from the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics added: “With limited housing stock in the market, any demand-driven actions are bound to distort house prices.”
Michael Yardney from Metropole Property Strategists said the bank of mum and dad was creating a stark divide.
“This is creating a two-tier market of the haves and have-nots, families with property equity already and others,” Mr Yardney said.
Stella Huangfu from the University of Sydney said family help gives some buyers extra purchasing power, letting them bid higher and get in sooner.
“This pushes up prices, especially in already competitive areas. It also deepens inequality, as those without family support are left further behind,” Ms Huangfu said.
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Other economists argued parental help was not, in itself, bad for the market.
Tim Reardon from the Housing Industry Association said family help was the result of a distorted market with unaffordable prices, not the cause.
“(Parents) are not a distortion, they are correcting the market distortion created by the severe lending restrictions imposed on first-home buyers,” he said.
Garry Barrett from the University of Sydney said intergenerational transfers have always existed, and Craig Emerson from Emerson Economics agreed: “There have long been mums and dads.”
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