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THIRTY years has made no difference to the great dream of young Australians to own their own home.
Just as they did 20 years ago, people in their early 20s still consider buying a property a priority.
An on-line survey of 1000 Australians in two age groups (25-35 years and 45 to 55 years) conducted by mortgage broker Mortgage Choice showed almost half of Australians surveyed purchased their first property between the ages of 21 and 25 years.
Of those surveyed, 47 per cent of the 25-35 year bracket, and 41 per cent of the 45-55 year bracket said they bought their first property before they turned 25 years.
It also appears purchasing property as an owner-occupier has become more popular with 91 per cent of 25-35 year olds buying owner-occupied properties, compared to 83 per cent of 45-55 year olds when they bought their first property.
National corporate affairs manager for Mortgage Choice Warren O'Rourke said the results indicated that owning property was still part of the "great Australian dream".
Mr O'Rourke said 62 per cent of all 25-35 year-old respondents said their number-one priority for creating wealth was to buy
Of the 1000 respondents one in five said they were planning on moving house within a year, with the major driver being to move into a bigger property.
Another 42 per cent said they were going to buy an investment property with the majority indicating their motivator was to effectively use the equity in their home.
Mr O'Rourke said survey results indicated that despite the half-percent rise in interest rates last year, people could still see wealth creation opportunities through property.
Even though investors may not see returns of 20 per cent a year as experienced over the past couple of years, property investment can still be a solid, long-term option that will see returns of around 10 per cent a year.
With compound growth, that means property values will double every 8-9 years.
"The survey results indicate Australian borrowers still consider it as a worthwhile opportunity to use their household equity to create greater wealth."