Young Australians are being advised they can save almost $16,000 a year by moving back home with their parents and abandoning shared living.
Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said it was an effective way to boost savings during a cost of living crisis.
“Reducing or eliminating accommodation costs (if you are in a position to do so) will significantly improve your cash flow and build savings much faster,” he said.
“The faster you can grow your cash reserve, the more resilient you will be to economic headwinds.”
But those hoping to save for a mortgage deposit to buy a flat may have to live with their parents for more than eight years.
Young Australians are being advised they can save almost $16,000 a year by moving back home with their parents and stopping living in a shared house (pictured is a stock image).
Australia’s average rent was $601 a week or $31,252 a year in December, and this CoreLogic figure covers both capital cities and regional areas.
But if someone who now shares a home with someone else moved in, Finder estimated they would save $300.50 a week or $15,626 a year.
Choosing a shared house, rather than renting alone, would also save someone the same amount of money over the year.
“Rent and mortgages have skyrocketed – they are the biggest source of financial stress in Australia and people can no longer cut costs elsewhere to get by,” Mr Cooke said.
Australia’s rental crisis is worsening with new data from SQM Research released this week showing Australia had a national rental vacancy rate of just one per cent in March.
Rents for units in the capital city have risen 9.2 percent over the past year to $628 a week.
Apartments in Sydney are even more expensive: rents rose 8.8 percent to $710.
Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at Finder, said this was an effective way to boost savings during a cost of living crisis.
The rental market remains tight, with 498,270 migrants, on a net basis, moving to Australia in the year to February.
An influx of international students saw 105,460 foreigners arrive in February alone, marking the first time that monthly arrivals of permanent and long-term foreigners reached six figures.
Renters who want to buy also face stiff competition and those who want to buy face having to give up their privacy and freedom.
Australia’s median unit price of $659,941 in March would require a 20 per cent mortgage deposit of $131,988, or eight years and five months of living with your parents to save almost $16,000 a year.