BETTER TOBUY

WHERE IT’S CHEAPER T OOWN THAN RENT

HOBART home buyers can save hundreds of dollars by breaking out of the rental cycle and getting their foot in the ownership door.

In Aussie Home Loans Buy vs Rent report, released today, Eastern Shore suburb Rokeby was named the No.1 area where house buyers stand to save the most money by making the switch.

The difference between paying a typical rent and the repayments on a variable rate home loan was $410 a month, the report said.

Select a three-year fixed rate repayment and a home purchaser could save $626 monthly.

The data revealed similarly large savings in Risdon Vale ($400 variable, $594 fixed), Bridgewater ($318, $524), Warrane ($292, $533) and Primrose Sands ($268, $480) housing markets.

New Norfolk, Chigwell, Berriedale, Mornington and Glenorchy rounded out greater Hobart’s top 10 with savings ranging from $163$243 variable and $424-$449 fixed.

In the past five years, the proportion of Hobart suburbs where a house mortgage repayment was less than rents has hardly shifted.

In September 2015, 51 per cent of Hobart suburbs had lower mortgage payments than rents compared with 50 per cent in 2020.

In that period the unit market grew from 35 per cent with cheaper mortgages to 44 per cent this year.

In regional areas, the report’s fixed rate scenario

found that almost 98 per cent of Tassie suburbs were more expensive to rent than pay down a mortgage.

Outside of chart-topping Bicheno, where asking rents are often impacted by holiday home rentals, West Coast towns Zeehan and Queenstown showed savings pushing into the $700 and $800 per month range.

Aussie chief executive James Symond said for young Tassie buyers or the average mum and dad, the take away from the report was a case of “if not now, then when?”.

“We see it as a great time for people to buy in Hobart and regional Tasmania,” Mr Symond said.

“Prices are continually getting stronger.”

Hobart couple Daniel Wass and Katelin Jones are excited to move into their newly purchased home in Mornington this month after the sale settled this week.

Mr Wass said the couple had been renting but earlier this year moved back in with parents in order to save.

He said they had not rented in Mornington before but in their previous rental had paid about the same in rental payments as they would now pay in mortgage repayments.

“I would say if you have the opportunity to be able to save up, do it.”

PRD Hobart director Tony Collidge said the Aussie data showed most of the areas that are cheaper to buy than to rent are located in the mid to lower buying tiers.

“Many renters in these areas are in the lower income demographic and may find it hard to save and find extra funds for a deposit,” he said.