A young tradesman who has been working since he was 14 years old is the face of Australia’s broken real estate market.
Jared Johnston, 26, lives on the Gold Coast and is a plumber. He rents in a share house and is careful with his spending, yet cannot afford to buy his first home – despite entering the workforce at just 14 years old.
The median price for a home on the Gold Coast reached $1.32 millionin 2025. The sunny city is catching up with Australia’s most expensive city, Sydney, where the median house price is over $1.5 million.
The Gold Coast is fast becoming an unaffordable destination for first-home buyers, and since Mr Johnston is single, trying to buy a property – even with a decent wage – is near-impossible with one income.
However, the 26-year-old tradie has refused to give up and has come up with a solution: he plans to buy his first place with his best mate, Riley, an electrician.
Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Johnston explained that their decision to combine finances comes from a place of need.
“We both just want a house, and we were both really struggling to get one,” he said.
“So we just thought, ‘Why not?’ Go in together and get into the market.”
The plan is to buy a home on the Gold Coast that requires a renovation, fix it up together, and flip it, hopefully making enough profit to then buy their own places.
The current forecast for the Gold Coast market is that it will have grown by 7 to 8 per cent by the end of 2025.
It’s an increasingly competitive market and getting harder to crack. So when Mr Johnston started to look around with the intention to buy, he immediately knew he was outpriced.
“I’ve been looking at the prices of houses, and it is impossible to do it on your own unless you are like a top dog,” he said.
Mr Johnston said now that he is going halves with his mate, the pair can afford to buy something between $750,000 and $900,000.
The 26-year-old revealed he was left feeling pretty deflated after seeing a mortgage broker who revealed he could get approval upwards of $550,000.
It sounds like a lot, but the repayments would have crippled him.
“The repayments would have been impossible on my own,” he pointed out.
“I talked to a broker and she said if I borrowed $590,000 the repayments would have been like $1000 a week.”
Mr Johnston admitted he didn’t even like the places on offer for that much money.
“I was like, $590,000, what am I meant to get for that – that isn’t a shoebox?,” he said.
The tradie said the mortgage broker conversation prompted him to see if his mate Riley would be keen on buying a place together.
“We kind of just started talking about it, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we just go halves?’ And we just went from there.”
He asked his best mate if he’d like to go halves
The 26-year-old said he doesn’t see another way to buy; the only people his age who own are either couples or friends who got in before the property market skyrocketed.
Mr Johnston said he also knows many people who received help from their parents, but that isn’t an option for him.
“A lot of people don’t have that,” he pointed out.
The Aussie plumber pointed out the market is “crazy” and most people on normal wages can’t afford homes.
Gareth Croy, managing director of the wealth advisory firm Your Future Strategy, told news.com.au that it is becoming complex for single individuals to enter the market.
“It has become increasingly harder for a single person to buy on their own because a single income doesn’t give them the borrowing power,” he said.
Mr Croy argued that wage growth hasn’t kept up with property prices, and a second income is becoming increasingly vital for purchase.
The wealth expert said that single people are now teaming up with “friends and family to get into the market” and increase their borrowing capacity.
“It is definitely a trend in capital cities,” he said.
Mr Croy pointed out that buying a home isn’t as “straightforward” as it was 20 years ago, but when he speaks to clients, it appears to still be the Aussie dream.
“I think homeownership is always something we want for security, but I think the strategy has changed,” he said.
The wealth expert said he is seeing Australians become more creative in their buying decisions, whether it is buying somewhere they can afford and renting somewhere they want to live, or seeking help from family.
“We are seeing a lot of rent-investing and we have a lot of clients, particularly Sydney clients, where the parents are seeing it as their responsibility to get their children into the market,” he said.
Mr Croy pointed out that the responsibility to save for a deposit used to be placed on the first-time homebuyer, but now Mum and Dad are getting in on the action.
“Parents are seeing it as their responsibility,” he said.
The wealth expert added that new schemes, such as the Albanese government’s introduction of a five per cent home deposit for first-home buyers, are both beneficial and problematic.
“It’s good there’s an initiative to help first home buyers in the market, but there is no doubt it will push up prices,” he said.
“We aren’t adding supply so it is going to force house prices up without a doubt!”
Mr Croy added he currently has clients who are eager to enter the market as quickly as possible.
“We have an increased level of interest from people who want to get in quickly out of fear that property prices will go up,” he said.
About Your Future Strategy
Your Future Strategy is a multi-disciplinary financial services firm with experts across the financial landscape, including qualified professionals in financial planning, strategic accounting, lending, investments, estate planning and superannuation.
As financial strategists, they help create a well-designed pathway for people to tick off financial goals to give them choice in their future, whether that’s saving for children’s schooling and university, building a significant property portfolio, creating and protecting their legacy, or retiring early.
“It’s probably those people who were thinking about it, but really didn’t have any sense of urgency, that all of a sudden, went, ‘Oh, I can see what’s coming. Let’s dive in before the tidal wave comes,” - Gareth Croy
"Historically, we would see people get into their 50s, and in some cases their early 60s, and only start asking the question then about whether they are actually in a position to retire," - Gareth Croy
The following article was taken from news.com.au and featured in news.com.au. Read the article in full below: https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/impossible-tradie-shocked-by-mortgage-broker-finds-clever-solution/news-story/8c0c1ac03d2b6e3ee700fe126d55f70e?btr=77410f610e23f457bcd4240fa0b932bc
A young tradesman who has been working since he was 14 years old is the face of Australia’s broken real estate market.
Jared Johnston, 26, lives on the Gold Coast and is a plumber. He rents in a share house and is careful with his spending, yet cannot afford to buy his first home – despite entering the workforce at just 14 years old.
The median price for a home on the Gold Coast reached $1.32 million in 2025. The sunny city is catching up with Australia’s most expensive city, Sydney, where the median house price is over $1.5 million.
The Gold Coast is fast becoming an unaffordable destination for first-home buyers, and since Mr Johnston is single, trying to buy a property – even with a decent wage – is near-impossible with one income.
However, the 26-year-old tradie has refused to give up and has come up with a solution: he plans to buy his first place with his best mate, Riley, an electrician.
Speaking to news.com.au, Mr Johnston explained that their decision to combine finances comes from a place of need.
“We both just want a house, and we were both really struggling to get one,” he said.
“So we just thought, ‘Why not?’ Go in together and get into the market.”
The plan is to buy a home on the Gold Coast that requires a renovation, fix it up together, and flip it, hopefully making enough profit to then buy their own places.
The current forecast for the Gold Coast market is that it will have grown by 7 to 8 per cent by the end of 2025.
It’s an increasingly competitive market and getting harder to crack. So when Mr Johnston started to look around with the intention to buy, he immediately knew he was outpriced.
“I’ve been looking at the prices of houses, and it is impossible to do it on your own unless you are like a top dog,” he said.
Mr Johnston said now that he is going halves with his mate, the pair can afford to buy something between $750,000 and $900,000.
The 26-year-old revealed he was left feeling pretty deflated after seeing a mortgage broker who revealed he could get approval upwards of $550,000.
It sounds like a lot, but the repayments would have crippled him.
“The repayments would have been impossible on my own,” he pointed out.
“I talked to a broker and she said if I borrowed $590,000 the repayments would have been like $1000 a week.”
Mr Johnston admitted he didn’t even like the places on offer for that much money.
“I was like, $590,000, what am I meant to get for that – that isn’t a shoebox?,” he said.
The tradie said the mortgage broker conversation prompted him to see if his mate Riley would be keen on buying a place together.
“We kind of just started talking about it, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we just go halves?’ And we just went from there.”
He asked his best mate if he’d like to go halves
The 26-year-old said he doesn’t see another way to buy; the only people his age who own are either couples or friends who got in before the property market skyrocketed.
Mr Johnston said he also knows many people who received help from their parents, but that isn’t an option for him.
“A lot of people don’t have that,” he pointed out.
The Aussie plumber pointed out the market is “crazy” and most people on normal wages can’t afford homes.
Gareth Croy, managing director of the wealth advisory firm Your Future Strategy, told news.com.au that it is becoming complex for single individuals to enter the market.
“It has become increasingly harder for a single person to buy on their own because a single income doesn’t give them the borrowing power,” he said.
Mr Croy argued that wage growth hasn’t kept up with property prices, and a second income is becoming increasingly vital for purchase.
The wealth expert said that single people are now teaming up with “friends and family to get into the market” and increase their borrowing capacity.
“It is definitely a trend in capital cities,” he said.
Mr Croy pointed out that buying a home isn’t as “straightforward” as it was 20 years ago, but when he speaks to clients, it appears to still be the Aussie dream.
“I think homeownership is always something we want for security, but I think the strategy has changed,” he said.
The wealth expert said he is seeing Australians become more creative in their buying decisions, whether it is buying somewhere they can afford and renting somewhere they want to live, or seeking help from family.
“We are seeing a lot of rent-investing and we have a lot of clients, particularly Sydney clients, where the parents are seeing it as their responsibility to get their children into the market,” he said.
Mr Croy pointed out that the responsibility to save for a deposit used to be placed on the first-time homebuyer, but now Mum and Dad are getting in on the action.
“Parents are seeing it as their responsibility,” he said.
The wealth expert added that new schemes, such as the Albanese government’s introduction of a five per cent home deposit for first-home buyers, are both beneficial and problematic.
“It’s good there’s an initiative to help first home buyers in the market, but there is no doubt it will push up prices,” he said.
“We aren’t adding supply so it is going to force house prices up without a doubt!”
Mr Croy added he currently has clients who are eager to enter the market as quickly as possible.
“We have an increased level of interest from people who want to get in quickly out of fear that property prices will go up,” he said.
About Your Future Strategy
Your Future Strategy is a multi-disciplinary financial services firm with experts across the financial landscape, including qualified professionals in financial planning, strategic accounting, lending, investments, estate planning and superannuation.
As financial strategists, they help create a well-designed pathway for people to tick off financial goals to give them choice in their future, whether that’s saving for children’s schooling and university, building a significant property portfolio, creating and protecting their legacy, or retiring early.