South Australia’s rapidly rising property prices are forcing some people to put off starting families so they have a better chance of getting into the market.
Property experts say cost-of-living pressures on top of the struggle to find an affordable home are taking their toll on younger generations, which is making them delay having children.
Ray White SA chief executive Matt Lindblom said it was a trend they had only noticed over the past few years since prices started to skyrocket across the state.
“I think this has been a thing in Sydney since before Covid-19, it’s now a thing in Adelaide,” he said.
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![Aerial view directly above established houses in older Adelaide southern suburb](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Rising property prices are forcing some buyers to put off starting a family, property experts say.
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Ray White SA chief executive Matt Lindblom.
“In Adelaide, there was more flexibility around having one income or a part-time and full-time income.”
“Now that time frame to be able to get into a home first before having a family is extending, they’re mindful of it.
“People are having smaller families simply due to affordability.”
According to latest PropTrack data, Greater Adelaide’s median house price has climbed 74.9 per cent over the past five years, from a median of $477,375 to $835,000.
Unit prices recorded similar growth over the same period, increasing 64.8 per cent from $349,000 to $575,000.
Mr Lindblom believed pushing back plan to have children – or scrapping them completely, for some – would become more common as prices continued to climb.
“That upward price trend will continue, so families will get smaller,” he said.
“There will be more people with less children and more people with no children.”
Real Estate Institute of South Australia chief executive Andrea Heading said some people were also buying smaller homes just to get into the market, like units or townhouses, which was forcing them to delay starting a family until they could afford a bigger property.
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REISA chief executive Andrea Heading.
Rose O’Donnell and her partner have put off having kids after seeing friends struggle with bills once they started a family. Picture: Dean Martin.
She said many developers were also building more smaller homes with two to three bedrooms to ensure they were affordable for prospective buyers.
“If you look at what’s being built, developers are building to demand,” she said.
“It really is more smaller offerings than the bigger ones.”
Rose O’Donnell, 25, and partner Jesse have put off having children after seeing friends struggling with bills once they started a family.
The couple have been together for eight years and are dealing with mortgage stress — Rose, a registered nurse, says they feel fortunate as Jesse had bought a property at Flinders Park just before they started dating so were in the market before prices started rocketing.
“The biggest issue is cost of living – trying to manage the mortgage, rising grocery prices, petrol prices, power costs … the bills seem to be never ending,” she said.
– with Brad Crouch
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