First home buyers Ethan Phan and Sherlyn Ng have secured their first home at 22 Loddon Street, Riverhills after six months of searching. Riverhills Friday 7th July 2023 Picture David Clark
A YOUNG Brisbane couple have swapped renting for home ownership after finally scoring the keys to their first home — but they had to stretch their budget to get it.
Facing another rent rise, Ethan Phan and Sherlyn Ng decided instead to jump into the competitive home buying market.
After more than six months of being outbid at auctions and searching high and low for homes, they have managed to negotiate the purchase of their first property.
They have bought a place off-market in River Hills with Jason Yang of NGU Real Estate for $838,000.
Mr Phan and Ms Ng said they were happy to be getting out of the rental market.
“It has been a really stressful period. We’ve heard stories from our friends of some rents going up $200,” Mr Phan said.
“When we were trying to break the lease of our current apartment after we posted it, I had about 25 people trying to inspect the property.
“We were very lucky that we have purchased this house off the market, it was a huge relief to have reprieve from the competitiveness of an auction.
Mr Phan said he was happy with River Hills as it has good schools, was a quiet suburb, did not have a high crime rate, and was close to everything.
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“Initially our budget was under $700,000,” he said. “We had to work a little bit harder to stretch our budget just a little bit so we could purchase what we wanted. We went a little bit higher than what we expected.
Mr Yang said the property market in Brisbane’s western suburbs was hugely competitive, driven by a lack of stock and renters fleeing the rental market.
“The property market is heating up, we’re seeing huge attendance at open homes and we’re seeing offers that are about 10 per cent of vendor expectations,” he said. “At our open homes were seeing about 20 to 30 groups inspecting.
“The western corridor in general is very strong, the supply and demand has been a major factor.
“Entry level homes are being driven by people exiting the rental market as it’s cheaper for them to take out a loan and buy a house.
“Buyers need to get their pre-approval sorted before they start looking, it’ll help them identify how much they can borrow versus just looking at houses and hoping to extend their budget.”
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