The top hacks for finding a home at your price range in 2025's market
With the real estate market getting harder for young people to get into, one Queensland couple had to reassess where they could afford a home in today's more expensive landscape.
Chris Conway and his wife Ellie began seriously looking for a place in March of 2025 – and after their first contract fell through, the two found themselves priced out of spots close to the city.
'It was kind of a slug,' Mr Conway said. 'We were kind of capped [regarding] where we wanted to go.'
'To be honest, we missed out on some places near the city by mere weeks or months … took us a long time to find something.'
Despite being happy with their income, the two found themselves unable to snag a spot in their target suburbs like Coorparoo, Woolloongabba and Carina Heights. It was only when they expanded their search further south did they find a place that fit their needs, buying a townhouse down in Eight Mile Plains.
Mr Conway found his new home during a major affordability decline across Queensland. Research from PropTrack showed it is now five times more difficult for people in the state to buy their first property, with a 420 per cent increase in house prices from 1980 to today.
When adjusted for inflation, the price of a house – $32,750 – would represent $174,600 in today's purchasing power, while Brisbane's median house price sits at $910,000.
Units saw a smaller but still significant rise, jumping from $38,750 in 1980 to $636,000 in 2025.
Mr Conway said he eventually came around to the idea of living in a home further down south.
'We initially ruled it out as being too far away from the inner city, where we work,' he said.
'The difference is that we were able to get a much better home by going further out … if we were closer into the city we would have been in a smaller apartment in a very urbanised area, so we're pretty happy with being further away now and getting a bit more greenery.'
Mr Conway said he and his wife could only afford the place thanks to first home government guarantees, and was optimistic about future affordability plans under the Labor government.
'I think it's getting more achievable with government schemes, but without it we wouldn't have been able to buy right now,' he said. 'We'd have been saving up for a few more years.'
The top piece of advice Mr Conway has for young home hunters?
'Just to be on the phone more,' he said. 'Communicating with real estate agents, and really trying to get as much information out of them as you can, and touching base with them to see what you can do to be in the best position to secure a property.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Unusual' thing happening to the Aussie dollar in wake of Trump tariffs, says Reserve Bank
The global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff agenda has resulted in something unusual happening to the Australian dollar. RBA assistant governor Sarah Hunter noted on Tuesday that the Aussie dollar has been behaving differently against the greenback than what we would historically expect. 'When the outlook for global growth weakens, the Australian dollar typically depreciates,' she explained in a speech at the Economic Society of Australia Business Lunch in Brisbane. This is because investors expect the Australian economy 'to be buffeted by the global headwinds and the RBA to respond with cuts to the cash rate'. The fact that the Australian dollar is a 'risk-sensitive' currency also contributes to the depreciation as 'when global investors are worried, they tend to focus on reducing risk exposure, moving their capital to low-risk assets in countries like the United States, Switzerland and Japan.' 'This means the Australian dollar tends to lose value against these currencies,' she said. When Trump announced his global 'Liberation Day' tariffs the Aussie dollar did as expected and fell, plummeting to below 60 US cents for the first time since the pandemic. However in recent weeks, the Aussie has recovered against the greenback and has been sitting between 64 and 65 US cents which, according to Dr Hunter, is 'more unusual' in a continuing time of uncertainty. Dr Hunter said this is in part due to a broad weakness in the USD after some global investors reduced their exposure to US assets. 'The weakness in the US dollar during a period of heightened risk is in contrast with many previous episodes,' she said, 'though it's too early to know whether this dynamic will continue.'
ABC News
6 hours ago
- ABC News
Workers get a pay rise from July
Samantha Donovan: Back to Australia now and from July 1st, millions of workers will be entitled to a pay increase. The Fair Work Commission announced today it's decided to boost the minimum wage by 3.5 per cent. That's higher than the rate of inflation. The Commission says workers need the cost of living relief and businesses can, on the whole, afford it. Here's our business correspondent, David Taylor. David Taylor: Australia's lowest paid workers will soon be getting a bit of a pay bump, roughly $32 extra a week, taking their salary up to $948 a week. Despite the increase, these people on their lunch break in Brisbane's South Bank think the minimum wage is still too low. Opinion: Phone bills, internet, you can't survive without internet. But with a wage like that, you have to decide what's most important. I don't think so. Opinion: I don't think I could afford my rent off that. Yeah, cost of living is obviously affecting us all and it's quite a low weekly take-home wage. Opinion: I think it should be above $1,000. Opinion: Being a second year apprentice, I only earn around $17.50 an hour and I don't think that's going to change with the award, so it doesn't really affect me. David Taylor: It's one of the largest above-inflation increases ever awarded and will lift the national minimum wage from $24.10 an hour to $24.95 an hour. Today's decision also results in an increase for many workers not on the minimum wage. It'll affect pay rates for workers on 120 wards, or about 21% of the workforce. Unions had asked for a 4.5% pay bump. While they didn't get anything near that, ACTU National Secretary, Sally McManus welcomed the outcome. Sally McManus: The Fair Work Commission accepted the arguments made by unions that it was time for low-wage workers, award workers to start catching up for what was lost during the inflation spike. David Taylor: But that extra money has to come from somewhere. The CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, Wes Lambert, says businesses will cop the financial hit at an already vulnerable time. Wes Lambert: On top of insurance, on top of rents, on top of utilities, on top of all of the other costs that hospitality businesses have to face, while they also have price ceilings, consumers don't want to pay more than $5 for a cup of coffee. We don't have any room to move. If we can't raise our prices and we're stuck with no profit or a loss, that just leads to business closures. David Taylor: While CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or ACCI, Andrew McKellar, agrees businesses will find it tough to accommodate the increase. Andrew McKellar: It has to be remembered that this decision is being delivered against a backdrop of declining productivity. We've seen profitability for many businesses going backwards over the past 18 months or so. David Taylor: So where does all this leave Australia's struggle to boost productivity? The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Amanda Rishworth, says the government's working on it. Amanda Rishworth: The productivity challenge is something that our government is absolutely committed to and something that, as you may know, the Treasurer has commissioned the Productivity Commission to look into this. David Taylor: While that's all going on in the background, AMP's chief economist, Shane Oliver, says despite weak levels of productivity, wages growth above 3% does not appear to be inflationary. Shane Oliver: I think 3.5% is a reasonably good outcome. It does give workers a real wage rise of just over 1%. David Taylor: Just on that though, the Reserve Bank has consistently said what it's concerned about with a tight labour market is that it will push wages growth up and without the associated productivity gains, that could be inflationary. Now we know that productivity is still lagging. It's negative based on the latest national accounts. So are you concerned that an above inflation wage rise like this, without the productivity gains, could lead to inflation? Shane Oliver: Look, it's certainly a risk. There's no doubt about that. But I guess the Reserve Bank and many economists have to concede that despite poor productivity growth in recent years, and a tight labour market, we have seen wages growth slow down. David Taylor: Official figures on the overall health of Australia's economy, including an update on productivity growth, will be released tomorrow. Samantha Donovan: David Taylor reporting.
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Closing Bell: ASX powers to new 50-day high, up 0.63pc
ASX adds 52 points, hitting a new 50-day high at 8,466.70 points Broad strength with 9 of 11 sectors on the up Gold and finance stocks outperform The ASX was on a roll today, climbing swiftly in the first hour of trade and maintaining momentum throughout trade to finish up by 0.63%. That also marks a new 50-day high for the bourse, which is just 1.72% off the all-time highs reached in February this year. All but two sectors made convincing gains today, with just Consumer Discretionary (-0.11%) and Health Care (-0.37%) lagging. The ASX All Ords Gold Index outperformed once again, surging 2.46% on another lift in gold prices, which climbed 2.5% to US$3397.20 an ounce overnight. The ASX 200 Banks index also stood out, jumping 1.3%. The major four banks gained between 1.19% and 1.37%. RBA outlines tariff risks for Australian economy Speaking to the Economic Society of Australia in Brisbane today, RBA assistant governor Sarah Hunter opened with a quote from Lenin. 'There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen'. It certainly feels like we've been in the tariff war trenches for years at this point, although in truth this all kicked off just four months ago. 'The broad-based nature of the proposed US tariffs, retaliation from major partners and other policy shifts all have the potential to structurally alter the world economy,' Hunter continued. The RBA has identified the key transmission channels these structural changes will flow through: Realigning trade flows between countries, production shifting to new countries over time Tariffs are likely to change consumption habits as some products become more expensive Business and consumers will become more cautious in the face of flipflopping policy, delaying major decisions involving capital investment Hunter points out that both fiscal and monetary policy can be adjusted to help offset adverse effects, and that financial markets will simply reprice assets. You can read her full speech (with sourcing and data analysis) on the RBA website, but in short Hunter concludes that we're in for a period of slower economic growth and a slightly weaker labour market. 'We also anticipate that, overall, the price of tradable goods will be slightly dampened,' Hunter said. 'Together, these two outcomes mean that inflation is forecast to be a little lower than at the February SMP, settling around the midpoint of the 2–3% target range.' While that's not good news, it's not cataclysmic either. The RBA says it will be watching its transmission channels closely from here on out, ready to adjust policy accordingly. ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS Today's best performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap EPM Eclipse Metals 0.015 200% 65692044 $14,329,095 VAR Variscan Mines Ltd 0.007 40% 92864 $3,914,289 G88 Golden Mile Res Ltd 0.018 38% 10828150 $7,075,222 BYH Bryah Resources Ltd 0.015 36% 42903096 $9,569,489 BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 33% 1803250 $1,355,441 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 33% 2483000 $9,865,276 BCA Black Canyon Limited 0.079 30% 630241 $7,908,692 NC1 Nicoresourceslimited 0.093 27% 412715 $8,008,142 WCE Westcoastsilver Ltd 0.078 26% 5130855 $16,127,501 CAV Carnavale Resources 0.005 25% 1133878 $16,360,874 EVR Ev Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 729920 $7,943,347 GLA Gladiator Resources 0.01 25% 884127 $6,066,375 MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.005 25% 499000 $7,934,392 UNT Unith Ltd 0.01 25% 2621527 $9,830,283 WMG Western Mines 0.195 22% 65152 $14,456,535 FTL Firetail Resources 0.091 21% 4345928 $28,502,098 BTM Breakthrough Minsltd 0.12 20% 348895 $4,785,950 ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.006 20% 909133 $5,890,381 AN1 Anagenics Limited 0.006 20% 100000 $2,481,602 BIT Biotron Limited 0.003 20% 2444305 $3,318,115 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.003 20% 439921 $7,051,062 GLL Galilee Energy Ltd 0.006 20% 416 $3,535,964 ION Iondrive Limited 0.024 20% 15264360 $23,656,727 NES Nelson Resources. 0.003 20% 2700000 $5,429,819 PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.003 20% 5693864 $7,937,639 Making news… Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) unveiled a massive 89 million tonne rare earths resource at its Grønnedal project in southwest Greenland. The updated estimate shows grades averaging over 6,300ppm TREO, including high-value magnet metals like neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – key ingredients for EVs and wind turbines. That puts it among the highest-grade rare earth deposits in the world. This new figure is more than 70 times bigger than the previous estimate, and the mineralisation still looks to extend in every direction, said EPM. Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) has snapped up the Cardea 3 Bauxite Project in WA's Darling Range, just 17km from its big Julimar West deposit. It paid a modest $5k upfront, and will tip in more cash and shares once the exploration licence is granted. Previous drilling at Cardea 3 shows high-grade bauxite, with standout results like 7.5m at over 48% total alumina and low reactive silica. Nico Resources (ASX:NC1) has received firm commitments for a $1.1m placement at an 11.4% premium to its 20-day VWAP. The funding will go to exploration and development of the Wingellina nickel-cobalt project, host to 40,000t of nickel and 3000t of cobalt. Sunshine Metals (ASX:SHN) has hit bonanza-grade gold mineralisation at the Liontown prospect, with results up to 10 metres at 31.91g/t gold from 41 metres of depth. With a smaller hit of 2 metres at 121.5g/t gold in hand, SHN says the results demonstrate the historical gold mine still hosts high-grade gold mineralisation, reinforcing the company's plans to pursue shallow oxide gold production. Alchemy Resources (ASX:ALY) has taken full ownership of the Bryah iron ore project, acquiring the remaining 50% interest from Carey Mining Pty Ltd for $75,000 cash and a royalty. The gradational royalty is based on iron ore prices sold FOB from the project, ranging from $0.80 per tonne at under US$100/t of iron ore and up to $1.22 should iron prices rise above US$125/t. The gold signal is coming in loud and clear from Solstice Minerals' (ASX:SLS) Bluetooth gold prospect, part of the Yarri gold project in WA. The company has hit multiple broad intersections from less than 50 metres below surface, grading up to 20m at 2.18g/t gold. ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS Today's worst performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap BMH Baumart Holdings Ltd 0.011 -67% 674614 $5,419,086 ADD Adavale Resource Ltd 0.001 -50% 400000 $4,574,558 OB1 Orbminco Limited 0.001 -50% 81733 $4,795,136 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.005 -33% 4155608 $8,412,381 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.002 -33% 8085945 $8,380,545 RCM Rapid Critical 0.002 -33% 7719243 $3,734,834 VML Vital Metals Limited 0.002 -33% 2815666 $17,685,201 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.006 -25% 12656652 $21,559,082 MTB Mount Burgess Mining 0.003 -25% 492539 $1,406,811 NAE New Age Exploration 0.003 -25% 4402993 $10,637,596 RAN Range International 0.0015 -25% 98459 $1,878,581 UBI Universal Biosensors 0.032 -24% 841535 $12,518,832 EVEDA EVE Health Group Ltd 0.023 -23% 889655 $3,955,862 OSLDA Oncosil Medical 0.95 -21% 14356 $13,819,740 CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.002 -20% 336928 $1,151,292 EV1 Evolutionenergy 0.008 -20% 2240267 $3,626,505 IMI Infinitymining 0.008 -20% 180000 $4,230,158 IS3 I Synergy Group Ltd 0.004 -20% 10000 $2,503,651 MML Mclaren Minerals 0.026 -19% 300161 $4,528,561 EXT Excite Technology 0.009 -18% 3170658 $22,799,061 HT8 Harris Technology Gl 0.009 -18% 202841 $3,618,617 CRI Criticalim 0.019 -17% 47468447 $62,041,318 ADG Adelong Gold Limited 0.005 -17% 10842256 $8,384,917 AJL AJ Lucas Group 0.005 -17% 7861 $8,254,378 ARV Artemis Resources 0.005 -17% 3120042 $15,171,176 LAST ORDERS Titanium Sands (ASX:TSL) has finalised a corporate funding solution for the Mannar heavy mineral project, whereby CPS Capital Group will provide up to $600,000 in loan funding in two tranches. The funding will be used to finalise environmental studies, advance an industrial mining licence for the project, and for general working capital. ADX Energy (ASX:ADX) has tapped David Gilbert as non-executive director, replacing John Begg as he steps down from the board of directors. Gilbert has held senior positions in companies based in Austria and Romania, locations highly relevant to ADX's operations as the company holds projects in both countries. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT MTM Critical Metals' (ASX:MTM) has achieved 98% recovery of antimony from US e-waste using its proprietary Flash Joule Heating technology. Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) has enrolled 61 of required 120 bacterial positive patients in US CLIA waiver clinical study for its point-of-care respiratory test FebriDx, designed to differentiate between bacterial and non-bacterial acute respiratory infections. Sampling at Perpetual Resources' (ASX:PEC) Igrejinha lithium project has uncovered more mineralisation ahead of RC drilling starting on June 5. essential projects unfulfilled by banks and government. Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) has started phase 2 drilling at its Marda gold project to follow-up on high-grade gold intersected in the phase 1 program. Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) is pursuing a non-binding MoU to cover full annual SC6 spodumene supply of 140,000 tonnes for its Bécancour lithium refinery in Canada. Health technology company Cardiex (ASX:CDX) has achieved an important milestone, receiving Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval for its CONNEQT Pulse arterial health monitor. Exploration is underway at Core Energy Minerals' (ASX:CR3) Grande Project in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where broad uranium anomalism has been identified at surface. With gold on a bull run, Codrus Minerals (ASX:CDR) has mobilised a diamond drilling rig to investigate five targets at its Bull Run gold project in the US. Cannindah Resources' (ASX:CAE) rock chip sampling has identified two untested copper-gold porphyry targets at Mt Cannindah, with assays up to 12.28% copper and 9.94g/t gold. Everest Metals' (ASX:EMC) has delivered an engineering scoping study for rubidium extraction through a partnership with Edith Cowan University. With gold prices booming, Artemis (ASX:ARV) is lining up the drills to grow its 374,000oz gold, 64,000t copper Carlow project, with 5000 metres planned in total. Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) has acquired the Cardea 3 bauxite project in WA's Darling Range, which has strong potential to further increase bauxite tonnage and grade through exploration. TRADING HALTS At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Titanium Sands and ADX Energy are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
