Auctioneer warns of alarming real estate trend in Australia

Real estate expert Tom Panos has spoken out about a worrying trend he has observed while holding auctions across Australia. 

‘When I go to an auction and I see a person that’s under 30, unless I see a mum and dad near them, I’m thinking to myself “they have no chance”,’ he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

‘And it is very sad to see that some of the people buying real estate now under 30 are people that are on OnlyFans.

‘It has reached the stage where, if you are an 18-year-old, getting a deposit on a unit will take 20 years — for a house, it is 40 years.’

Mr Panos added that the average age of Aussies taking out a home loan is now 32, up from 23 in 2009.

‘Back in my era, I remember the dream was you get to 60-65, and you’d have your house paid off. That was the dream for the average Australian,’ Mr Panos said.

‘These days, the dream is, “I’ll have to get to that age to actually put a deposit down”, so you can see why people are so disheartened and giving up.’

Parents assisting their children with deposits were also affecting their own retirement savings, Mr Panos said.

‘I’m looking at people who are, let’s say, 60-65. If they’re going to live until 80-90,  handing out lump sum deposits of $100,000 to $200,000 changes the trajectory of retirement for most individuals.’

Mr Panos said rising house prices were forcing essential workers out of Australia’s big cities.  

‘I know teachers and nurses who cannot rent or buy a home,’ he said.

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‘There is no turning back when a society says that we can’t help a teacher more or a nurse, there is no turning back for society. 

‘It’s against the fabric of Australian society.’

He said the major driver of surging house prices was rising immigration. 

‘Immigration is very good, immigration helps a country progress, it’s good for security,’ Mr Panos said.

‘However, I think [Australia should be] pressing the pause button and saying, “Hey, if we’ve only got 1,000 houses, why are we letting 1,500 people in”.

‘So I think the simple solution is a pause or a reduction till we sought out that housing issue, or we make progress towards it.’

Over the five years, 1.38million migrants on a net basis are still expected to move to Australia, according to treasury documents.