Media releases

Australians with Asian heritage more likely to support their children in home ownership

16 February, 2018
 

  • Asian Australians most likely to believe parents should help their children financially
  • 68% of Asian Australians believe that owning a home is important for parents so they can leave an asset to their children
  • 70% of Australians believe that young people aren’t willing to make enough sacrifices to buy their own home, yet most agree young people are the losers in the property boom

 

Newly released findings from Westpac’s Ipsos1 research report reveals culture can be a driving force behind parents wanting to help their children onto the property ladder.

 

The research, which surveyed over 2,000 Australian home owners and intending first home buyers in 2017, found Australians were divided when it came to how much parents should help their children financially, with 70% believing that young people today aren’t willing to make the sacrifices to their lifestyle that are necessary to save a home deposit or pay off a mortgage. Many agreed, however, that first home buyers face the biggest challenges in the property boom (60%) and that parents should help their children buy property if they have the money (47%).

 

The data revealed that Asian Australians2 were much more likely than the overall population to share the belief that ‘it’s only fair home owners share the wealth they’ve accumulated in the property boom with their kids’ (60% vs 39% total sample).

 

Westpac’s Home Ownership spokesperson, Andy Wright, said the results are reflective of a culture in which it is typical for parents to provide financial support to children to buy their first home.

 

“The ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ has become a hot topic in housing affordability. Our research shows that while empathetic to young people’s housing challenges, many Australians are not convinced that young people are doing enough to buy their first home, including making sacrifices, or looking at more affordable areas3.”

 

“But our research shows Asian families are in the practice of giving financial support to children to help them buy a home and believe this is an important thread in the fabric of their family.”

 

Asian Australians were also much more likely to agree that home owners should help their children with money (65% vs 47% total). Home ownership as a family asset is also more likely to be important to this cultural group with more Asian Australians (70%) believing that owning a home is important for parents so they can leave an asset to their children, compared to all Australians (60%).

 

“At Westpac we are committed to helping first home buyers into their first home sooner, and have developed products and services to assist them and their families, including our Family Security Guarantee,” Mr Wright said.

 

“We’re committed to providing our customers with information and products that are suited to their needs, and with personalised advice based on their circumstances. Across the retail and business banking network, customers are served by multicultural staff, including home lenders, with international banking experience who speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Indian, Korean and Vietnamese.”

 

In addition to further support, Westpac offers new arrivals to Australia fee-free bank accounts for their first year in Australia, as well as fee-free accounts for international students for the duration of their studies. Westpac also has multilingual ATMs and established a Chinese on-boarding contact centre in 2017.

 

For more information visit https://www.westpac.com.au/personal-banking/home-loans/

 

   

 

ABOUT THE RESEARCH:

Ipsos undertook this research on behalf of Westpac; an online survey of 2000 Australian4 men and women aged 20-70 years, which was conducted between March 29 and April 4, 2017. The report was launched in August 2017. The sample comprised homeowners and those hoping or intending to buy a residential property anytime in the future. Those hoping or intending to buy a home for the first time are identified in this paper as ‘aspiring first time buyers.’

 

Several demographic subgroups have been analysed including homeowners (also broken into further sub-groups ‘owner occupiers’ and those ‘who don’t live in their homes’), ‘aspiring first time buyers,’ as above, as well as generational cohorts Generation X, Generation Y and Baby Boomers. Data was analysed by other variables such as income, location and cultural background.

 

The generational composition of key groups is:

Aspiring first time buyers: 70% Gen Y, 30% Gen X

Homeowners: 49% Baby Boomers, 31% Gen X and 17% Gen Y.

 

KEY TRENDS AND FINDINGS:

  • Asian Australians are more likely to believe that:
  • It’s only fair home owners share the wealth they’ve accumulated in the property boom with their kids (60% vs 39% total)
  • It’s only fair home owners help their children with money (65% vs 47% total)
  • Owning a home is important for parents so they can leave an asset to their children (68% vs 60% total)
  • Australians are most likely to believe that young people:
  • Aren’t willing to make sacrifices to save a deposit or pay off a mortgage (70%)
  • Do not prioritise saving for a home (66%)
  • Australians are most likely to believe that first home buyers:
  • Are the losers in the property boom (60%)
  • Should consider moving to the outer suburbs of cities to afford a house (73%)
  • Aren’t willing to move to a different area to be able to afford a house (63%)
  • Should move to a cheaper state so that they can afford to buy a house (52%)

 

Access Part 1 of the research report here- 'A place to call home - Australians' view on housing affordability' prepared for Westpac by Ipsos

 

1 July 2017, Chapter 4: The clash of the generations and the surprising role of culture, prepared for Westpac by Ipsos

2 Asian Australians are defined as Australians who were born in Central and South East Asian countries including the Indian subcontinent

3 73% agree that first home buyers should consider moving to the outer suburbs of cities to be able to afford a house, 63% agree that first home buyers aren’t willing to move to a different area/an area they don’t like just to be able to afford a house, and 52% agree that first home buyers should move to a cheaper state so that they can afford to buy a house

4 To be a member of the MyView Online Research Panel, you must be an Australian resident aged 15 and over. Australian resident = an Australian citizen, a permanent residence visa holder or a protected special category visa (SCV) holder.