And since the pandemic began, avid watchers of Aussie real estate have certainly had a lot to talk about.
But some shall we say “enterprising” folks have used their super withdrawals for a very different purpose – a deposit for a home.Over 600,000 Aussies emptied their super accounts in the pandemic, with some using it to buy a house.According to figures from research firm Digital Finance Analytics , 22 per cent of first homebuyers who have purchased a property in the last six months did so with a deposit at least partially made up by withdrawals from their superannuation.
With housing turnover still sitting near multi-decade lows, despite a recent uptick from a lockdown-impacted low base, it’s possible that the effect of these super withdrawal driven deposits may have been further amplified. However, as you can see from the Australian Bureau of Statistics graph below, this isn’t the first time the first homebuyer market has been juiced by external factors toward record highs.Source:Supplied
According to data from Digital Finance Analytics, we may already be seeing signs of demand beginning to weaken.