Meet Alicia

In the first article in this series we saw that saving a house deposit is tough, perhaps tougher than it’s ever been. Relative to income, Australian house prices are at an all-time high. We saw how difficult it was in Todd and Renima’s case to get on the housing ladder. Though it’s even harder for Alicia who’s on her own, it's not impossible.

Alicia’s just turned 30. She’s been saving hard for a couple of years, though her designated ‘House’ account has only just reached $10,000.

A single woman, it seems half her income gets gobbled up in rent (and most of the rest disappears on bills). How can she increase her savings—and get her deposit together quicker?

How much is she saving now?

Alicia earns around $60,000 a year, the average Australian wage. Taking out tax and super, she takes home just over $42,000 per annum.

Rent for her one-bedroom flat costs $350 a week—just over $18,000 per year. That leaves her with $24,000.

Now add in the cost of running a car, estimated to be $8000 a year in Australia. Also include $3,000 for utilities (electricity, phone, internet etc.), $6,000 for food and eating out, and $3,000 for clothing (“conservative”, Alicia will tell you).

After all this, she’s left with just $4,000 a year. Note this is a basic budget, and we haven’t taken into account personal insurance and unexpected costs like a huge dental bill.

How much does she need?

Alicia’s got her eye on a suburb 45 minutes by train from the CBD. She’s seen houses there for $400,000. So she’ll need a 20% deposit—$80,000—and money for stamp duty and other costs (lawyers, conveyancers, removalists, etc.). All up, she’s looking at $100,000.

Happily, she qualifies for a First Home Buyer Grant (FHOG), and stamp duty concession. Depending on the state or territory, that can be up to $30,000—check out our First Home Owner Grant article for more detail. Nevertheless, at her current savings rate—and assuming house prices don’t surge further—it’ll take her 12-15 years to save her deposit.

How can she get there more quickly?

So what can Alicia do to save her deposit faster? She has a few options:

  • use public transport
  • move back home for a bit
  • move into a flat-share
  • go in with a smaller deposit—but pay Lenders' Mortgage Insurance (LMI). This is a one-off charge you pay if you don’t have a 20% deposit. If Alicia put up a 10% deposit on that $400,000 home, LMI would cost her $6,336
  • ask family for money, either a loan or a gift
  • Alicia could also check if she's eligible for the First Home Guarantee or Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. This mean she could buy a house with a smaller deposit.
  • If Alicia was a single parent, she could check if she’s eligible for the Family Home Guarantee. Under this scheme eligible single parents can buy a home with a deposit as small as 2%.

Alicia's masterplan

Let’s look at the numbers. If Alicia opted for a cheaper house, say a $300,000 flat, this cuts her 20 per cent deposit to $60,000. With the FHOG and stamp duty concession—plus legal/moving costs—she’d need around $55,000.

If she follows a super-saver plan—ditches the car ($5000 transport saving) and moves back home (paying $150 board, or $7,800 a year)—her potential savings soar. Instead of saving just $4,000 a year, she’s putting aside $22,200.

Even the less drastic option of a flat-share ($10,000 pa. plus $1500 bills) minus the car would see her savings increase to just under $20,000.

That’s only two to three years of saving.

Ready to purchase your home?

Talk to our home loan experts today.

Explore other life moments

Related products and services

Contact us for home loan related queries

Book an appointment

Make an appointment to see us at your nearest branch, ask a mobile banker to come to you or ask us to call you back.

Customer Support Tool

Solve problems quickly online with our easy-to-follow guides. Simply select a topic and we’ll direct you to the information you need.

Call us

Speak to a home loan expert about a new or existing home loan.

Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 7:00pm (AEST/AEDT)
Saturday to Sunday, 9:00am to 6:00pm (AEST/AEDT)

13 78 79

Terms and Conditions

Case study is an illustration only.

The information contained in this article is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this information, NAB recommends that you consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. NAB recommends that you seek independent legal, financial and taxation advice before acting on any information in this article.

Target Market Determinations for these products are available at nab.com.au/TMD.