First-time buyers in Australia have unrealistic expectations of the type of property they will be able to purchase with the money they have and need to change their lifestyles if they want a fairer deal, it has been suggested.
This is the opinion of 35-year-old property empire owner Tim Gurner, who argues that one of the main reasons why first-time buyers are often disappointed when they find out what their savings will buy them is that they simply haven't scrimped and saved enough.
He suggested that many millennials are so concerned with living a particular lifestyle and portraying this on social media that they have a frivolous attitude towards money, but are then complaining they cannot afford a decent-sized property.
Mr Gurner said that many members of Generation Y are spending too much on luxuries such as fancy avocado on toast at hipster restaurants - a favourite pastime among the young Instagram community. But this is compromising their ability to save for a home, he believes.
The property tycoon stated: "When I was trying to buy my first home, I wasn't buying smashed avocado for $19 and four coffees at $4 each. We're at a point now where the expectations of younger people are very, very high.
"The people that own homes today worked very, very hard for it and saved every dollar, did everything they could to get up the property investment ladder."
Although property prices have risen markedly from generation to generation, Mr Gurner believes that many young people's commitment to saving has not kept pace with this and that this is why their expectations are rarely being met by the property market.
Mr Gurner's comments come the week after it was revealed Australian real estate agent Ray White was offering a year's free supply of avocado on toast to those who bought the houses on a new development it was marketing - a move that allowed buyers to own a home while continuing to live this particular lifestyle.
