“Should we? How hungry are you? I don’t know!”
For Simon and Angie, the purchase of dumplings at their local Chinese restaurant is a fraction of the price of a home. Yet the young couple have just spent 23 minutes deciding, “Should we also get dumplings?” One hour later, these millennials spent approximately 10 seconds deciding which houses to bid on this weekend in Reservoir, an outer suburb of Melbourne.
The young professionals are hoping to buy their first home. Yet in a hot market, properties are snapped up quickly. There isn’t time to think through what will be the most expensive purchase of their lives.
Once the thrifty pair agreed that they were hungry enough to share a plate of dumplings, they spent another nine minutes deciding if the filling should be prawn, pork or vegetable. And another three minutes debating if steamed or fried was best.
With the median house price in Australia hitting 1 million dollars, the couple have been saving for seven years to scrape together a deposit. They are on a tight budget and only buy the essentials. Today’s meal out was an unusual treat, with the bill coming to $23.85.
Angie said, “I once spent a month deciding whether or not to buy a pair of boots. Last month, we made an offer on a house before we’d even seen it. Unfortunately, a boomer came in and offered 1.2 million over the listing price so we missed out.”
