Want to buy that dream home, Millennials? Stop buying avocado on toast

Dear Millennial: if you want a house, stop buying avocados.

That’s the advice Australian multimillionaire property mogul Tim Gurner has for young professionals struggling to purchase their first house.

Speaking on Australia’s edition of 60 Minutes, Gurner explained that he spent much of his late teens and early twenties working, instead of purchasing teardrop-shaped fruit on toast.

“When I had my first business when I was 19, I was in the gym at 6 a.m. in the morning, and I finished at 10.30 at night, and I did it seven days a week and I did it until I could afford my first home,” he adds.

‘I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more’

“This generation is watching the Kardashians and thinking that’s normal – thinking owning a Bentley is normal. They want to eat out every day; they want travel to Europe every year.

“I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more. I can afford to eat this for lunch because I am middle aged and have raised my family.”

Construction mogul Tim Gurner is upfront about Australia’s housing problem -he says his generation needs to stop whinging & start saving. pic.twitter.com/bysx3Jler5

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) May 14, 2017

According to CNBC, Gurner has close to US$500-million in the bank, with around US$3.8-billion worth of development projects across the country. Based on those numbers, Gurner at least boasts the credentials to shun avocados, or buy them by the dozen.

But Twitter wasn’t having it.

“Just stop buying $4 coffee to save that $100,000 median deposit on a $60 k average wage while paying rent, it’s so easy,” one Twitter user snarked.

@60Mins Millionaires telling those that are doing it tough to harden up ……… is this satire ?

— Anderson Walker (@4ndersonWalker) May 14, 2017

@60Mins Just stop buying $4 coffee to save that $100,000 median deposit on a $60 k average wage while paying rent, it’s so easy

— Anderson Walker (@4ndersonWalker) May 14, 2017

@60Mins @Channel9 Even some with little luxuries have a hard time saving. You know like heating and cooling. Lady Luck doesn’t smile down on everyone

— Lucy Baker (@Lucyt_aussie) May 14, 2017

Twitter might have a point too.

Avocados: the tastiest player in the global housing crisis

Australia is in the grip of a housing price crisis at present. In December 2016, house prices across the country’s eight major cities increased by nearly 9%.

With spikes like that, saving even for the most economically sensible becomes a herculean task.

In South Africa, the numbers aren’t much better, at least down south. Cape Town’s house prices increased by just below 4% in 2016, compared to Durban’s which decreased by more than 5%.

As far as avocados go, it’s highly unlikely that eating beans on toast instead will be enough to afford that dream home of yours.

The New York Times “fact-checked” Gurner’s statements and arrived at this conclusion:

The truth is, even if millennials assumed the eating-out habits of baby boomers, it would take around 113 years before they could afford a down payment on a home (assuming a 20 percent down payment on the median price for a home in the United States).

TL;DR: as much as it makes sense to save, money simply doesn’t grow on avocado trees.

Feature image: cyclonebill via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)