Aussie singles are on their way to being squeezed out of the first-home buyer market, with new figures showing the vast majority expect to buddy up before buying.

New research from Finder has shown almost three in every five prospective first-home buyers (59 per cent) now assume they will have to buy with someone else.

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This might be a partner (53 per cent), family member (5 per cent) or friend (1 per cent).

Money expert Sarah Megginson said the responses from more than 1000 first-home buyers nationwide were even bleaker than just a year prior, when 45 per cent of buyers still felt they could buy without partnering up, exacerbating a trend that had been rising for two decades.

“First-home buyers were having a difficult time 20 years ago, but now in certain cities, certainly for the average Australian, it’s impossible without a leg-up from government or family,” Ms Megginson said.

She added that the size of an entry level mortgage had surged alongside home values that are now at a median $991,000 in Sydney and $838,000 in Melbourne, and there was now a mental hurdle to buying solo.

“Psychologically, it can also feel like less of a big leap when you have got someone doing it with you, and that’s because the stakes are so much higher now,” Ms Megginson said.

Sarah Megginson, senior editor of home loans at Finder.

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With most market entrants buying an at least $500,000 home, the million-dollar house prices in many capital city suburbs and even in some regional hubs meant only those with high-six figure incomes were forging ahead alone for what was once the great Australian dream.

Ms Megginson said there was some hope, with the prospect of home price falls opening the door to a lower overall debt for buyers and raising hopes for singles.

Further detail in Finder’s First Home Buyer Reportindicates those still hoping to buy had affordability at the top of their shopping list, followed by access to public transport, proximity to shops and a low crime rate.

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53 per cent of survey responders now assume they will have to buy with partner in order to afford a home.

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But Ms Megginson said compromise was now inevitable with a first-home purchase, and with the prospect that interest rates, energy and petrol prices will all continue to rise, it might be time for them to consider a dump.

“There are things you can change about the home, you can update a crap kitchen or dodgy backyard, but the location and aspect and access to amenities you can’t change,” she warned.

Barry Plant chief executive Nigel O’Neil said the findings were unsurprising, with the number of buyers receiving parental assistance making it difficult to tell if any buyers were still proceeding solo.

“And to get approval a single buyer will often have the bank looking for a guarantor,” Mr O’Neil said. “So it is getting harder to do it by yourself.”

However the boss of Victoria’s second-largest real estate agency noted unemployment was low enough wage growth could combine with falling prices to help singles mount a comeback next year.

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