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It took six years before Kristy Donovan and Aaron Heidke could afford to buy a home.
The couple began saving in 2018, hoping to find a place for them and their son on the Gold Coast.
Together, the two earn close to $200,000 a year, making them well above the average earning bracket for Queenslanders.
They had enough money for a deposit in 2020, but the Covid pandemic and skyrocketing housing prices forced them to change plans and move inland.
“We just kept missing out due to the prices rising,” Ms Donovan said. “If you went to work and got home that night and looked on realestate.com.au, those houses were already under offer within eight hours — even less. So, you’d see something that was in your budget … and then it was gone before you even could inquire about it.”
Aaron Heidke and Kristy Donovan have finally found their first home for them and their son Josh – but it’s not on the Gold Coast, like they had planned. Picture: Nigel Hallett
PropTrack’s 2024 Housing Affordability Index has reported households that earn $200,168 annually can only afford half of Queensland’s available homes in today’s housing market. Renting households, meanwhile, are only able to afford one in 10 houses.
As a retail salesperson and mechanic, Ms Donovan and Mr Heidke make a little less than that pay bracket, and struggled to find a first home that did not need extensive renovations.
“We’ve been able to save quite well,” Ms Donovan said. “But it’s just, every time you get close, the house that you’re looking at a year ago is now $200,000 to $300,000 more.”
Finally, in March of 2024, the family came across Beaumoor: a 250-hectare land development in Beaudesert, within the Scenic Rim.
Led by Moremac, Beaumoor has lots ranging from 451 sqm to 806 sqm, where buyers can build new homes near an established community.
Beaumooor is a new land development in Beaudesert, with hectares of land where future homeowners can build their new lives.
Moremac sales and marketing director Lachlan Moore said they chose to provide a variety of lot sizes at the site to provide for a range of buyers, such as first homeowners and downsizers.
“Purchasers are becoming more and more open to exploring land options in communities like
Beaumoor where they can maintain their current lifestyle by adopting a longer commute,” he said.
Prices for lots range from $270,000 to $350,000. Buying a plot at $333,000 and planning for a house build in a similar range, Ms Donovan said she hoped to keep the total cost below $650,000.
“By the time we get out there, we’ll be in our late 30s,” she said. “We don’t want to retire with a huge mortgage. We’d like to be able to live a little bit, and if our son wants to do things like go to university, we’d like to be able to save for that as well.”
With the First Home Buyers grant and their Lenders Mortgage Insurance waived, the family’s total deposit comes close to $80,000. They expect to move in to a finished house in 2026, with a 30 year mortgage at around 30 per cent of their weekly wage.
The post How a well-earning Queensland family can still struggle for six years to find a house appeared first on realestate.com.au.
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