As read in The Advisor recently, it reported that 57% of Australians now rate owning a home or paying off their home sooner as their top priority, according to The Westpac Home Ownership report.

General Manager of Westpac mortgage broker distribution Tony MacRae said it is striking that people are prioritizing home ownership ahead of having children and getting married, which rated at 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
Mr MacRae also said the research indicated many Australians do not fully understand the complex finance sector and need more advice to help them own their home sooner.

“Our research indicates that many features designed to help pay off loans quicker are not fully understood, meaning Australians are missing out on opportunities to pay off their home loan faster,” said Mr MacRae.

“One in five of those intending to buy in the next 12 months had no idea what type of loan structure they should take up when to they go to buy and of those who already had a home loan, over one in five didn’t even understand what a variable rate was, he said.

John can be contacted on 0749722081 or 0410433919. You can also email him at jwhitten@ihl.net.au or look him up on the net www.ihl.net.au. John Whitten is a credit representative (CRN 399796) of BLASSA Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence No 391237).