Young couples prefer buying apartments

Young couples prefer buying apartments as house prices grow in value

An improving property market is likely to result in more empty-nesters deserting the family home for apartments this year, with new research showing that nearly a quarter of downsizers already live in apartments.

Figures from Australian Property Monitors show the median house price rose more than 7 per cent on the upper north shore last year, and analysts are increasingly confident the prestige market is set to improve. Land tax and empty-nest syndrome' would spur downsizers, with some buying a weekender with leftover cash.

Many young couples had moved out of their family homes and rented them, waiting for the market to improve. ''We could see some big homes on the market later in the year,'' Apartment marketers have realised the fact that with big price drops in the prestige market, most downsizers can't afford to spend as much as they had in the past.

''Developers probably got a little bit burnt on the larger, three-bedroom apartments,'' so instead of 150 to 200 square metres, they were now offering three-beds of less than 120sqm.

New research due to be released this year by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute will show that almost a quarter of downsizing Australians are already in apartments.

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