Putting pets before proximity to parents could be a mistake for first-home buyers.

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First-home buyers are willing to prioritise space for pets over being close to family in a move one of the nation’s top real estate professionals has warned could hurt them long term.

Despite surging interest rates making housing affordability worse even as home values decline this year, close to three-quarters of first-home buyers questioned for a Commonwealth Bank survey in August ranked getting onto the property ladder as a major financial goal.

Of the 184 who responded, 38 per cent rated space for a fur baby as extremely important, but less than a quarter (23 per cent) had the same view about proximity to family.

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Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia president Cate Bakos said they needed to flip that view if they wanted to upgrade from their first home to their dream home as soon as possible.

“I’m not surprised at the survey’s result,” Ms Bakos said.

“But being close to your family could help you future proof your purchase.”

A first home bought to suit your pets above having family nearby could have drawbacks.

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She added buyers should expect to own a home for at least five years, which in some cases would be longer than a pet lived for and could be long enough for them to start a family requiring parents to be close by for childcare support.

Survey respondents ranked location as their second most important factor, behind price. The type and size of the property were also more important than proximity to family or pet-friendly features for most prospective market entrants.

Ms Bakos said capital growth prospects should be the priority, which made it important to find a location near amenities those with reasonably good incomes want in their lives.

“We know that money grows where money goes,” Ms Bakos said.

A home’s orientation and floorplan should also be heavily weighted as they were expensive and in some cases impossible to alter, but could make selling in the future difficult, she warned.

The survey also showed 81 per cent would ditch social time and even dates to boost their deposit, while 40 per cent said they would eschew giving Christmas and birthday gifts to do so.

First-home buyers need to think well beyond just getting a property, according to a top buyer’s agent.

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CBA home buying executive general manager Michael Baumann said despite first-home buyers ranking proximity to family as a lower priority than space for their pets, the bank was offering services to let them split homebuying costs with a sibling, friend or their partner.

“The great Australian dream, or aspiration of owning a home, continues to remain strong among young Aussies who currently don’t own a property,” Dr Baumann said.

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