Camera IconStephanie Taylor from Centro Estates Credit: supplied
Boomer bucks are flooding the entry-level property market, entrenching an unfortunate system where intergenerational wealth helps decide who gets a foot on the ladder.
University research shows a spike in the number of cashed-up Baby Boomers making hefty contributions to their children and grandchildren to buy property since the expansion of the 5 per cent Home Guarantee Scheme.
Curtin University researcher Paul Vivian said parental help before the scheme’s expansion in October last year was usually in the role of loan guarantor, but it had since shifted primarily to cash gifts.
Contributions were usually between $10,000 and $30,000, but some Babyboomers were paying up to $1 million for homes for their adult children and grandchildren.
In the words of recent first home buyer Jenny Gloza: “There are a lot of Boomer Bucks out there in the market.”
Camera IconJenny Gloza and fiancee Owen Bennett who have just bought their first house after an arduous and heartbreaking three and a half year house hunt. Dan McBride Credit: Dan McBride/The West Australian
Mr Vivian, a PhD student specialising in housing economics, said the trend had seen intergenerational wealth become a bigger feature of the property market.
Mr Vivian said his research with WA mortgage brokers showed that since the Government last year stepped into guarantor role for first home buyers purchasing up to $850,000 - up from the previous cap of $600,000 - affordability had become the bigger stumbling block to home ownership.
The immediate flood of demand amid restricted supply saw prices skyrocket - up 8.4 per cent, or about $70,000, for homes under $850,000, according to Cotality. More expansive homes grew by 7.3 per cent in the same period.
Mr Vivian said it was only natural for people to want to help their children.
But many have lamented the unfortunate rise of intergenerational wealth in the property market, which not only forces some to miss out on pricey homes but risks de-incentivising adult children from being independent.
Many young buyers complain Boomer Bucks had inflated entry-level house prices so much it had made it harder for everyone to afford a home.
Ms Gloza and fiancee Owen Bennett witnessed the Perth median grow from $585,000 in mid 2022, when they started their house hunt, to just under $1 million by the time they purchased in Hamersley in December 2025.
They attended more than 100 home opens and made offers on about ten homes.
They were eventually successful after offering $210,000 above asking price for a home in Hamersley, where they walked shoulder-to-shoulder with 70 other people at the home open.
While Ms Gloza said they started their house hunt using only their own finances, towards the end of their three and a half year house hunt, they had to accept a small contribution from a parent in order to make a competitive offer.
She said it was incredibly difficult to get on the property ladder these days without at least some help.
“You see a lot of people in their 30’s going house-hunting with their parents,” she said.
Ms Gloza said there was an increasing amount of panic and fear-mongering in the sub-$1 million market.
It had become even more cut-throat over the past year as some real estate agents had started refusing to provide general price guides for listed properties, leaving potential buyers to make a wild stab at what they thought was a competitive offer.
Ms Gloza said investors were also tough competition, using their tax advantages and equity to enable them to outbid first home buyers.
She recounted how one investor dashed her hopes before her eyes, arriving as she was in final negotiations with a real estate agent outside a small home in North Perth.
“Right at that moment, a guys pulls up in a $300,000 BMW and makes a huge offer,” she said.
“He was clearly just an investor, but it blew my offer out straight away.”
Ms Gloza and Mr Bennett both called on the Federal Government to level the playing field between first home buyers and investors by reducing tax incentives for property investments.
Mr Bennett said he understood the Bank of Mum and Dad would always be a feature of the property market, but it was unfair to let investors “sweep up” at the expense of first-time buyers.
“I don’t mind people buying a second or third property... but the problem is when people come in and get five or ten properties,” Mr Bennett said.
“They are coming in and sweeping up, and I think something needs to change where there is less incentive to invest... and make it a bit more fair for people trying to start their family.”
Mr Bennett said the consequence of today’s market was that even when first home buyers were successful, they were in so much debt they could not afford to start families.
The Federal Government is under pressure to use its May 12 Budget to cut tax incentives for investors, possibly by a reduction in the Capital Gains Tax discount and by limiting negative gearing benefits.
Camera IconStephanie Taylor from Centro Estates Credit: supplied
Property agent Stephanie Taylor, of Centro Estates, said a significant number of entry-level homes she sold in the western suburbs were purchased by investors, either for their portfolio or for young relatives.
She said she regularly saw how devastated first home buyers were as they faced multiple disappointments.
She said the inequity in the market was highlighted recently as some buyers desperate for a roof over their head recently lost out to cashed up Baby Boomers who thought it might be nice to “have a city pad” as well as their western suburbs home.
But, some sellers were sensitive to the ordeal facing young buyers, and she had been requested by some owners to sell their properties only to owner occupiers and not to investors.
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