At 33, Miranda McLennan is facing a reality she never expected: after a decade of saving to buy her first home, she’s back at square one.
Following the separation from her former partner, she feels that the Sunshine Coast’s soaring housing market is more out of reach than ever.
“As a single-income buyer now, thinking about how I’m going to get back into the market is really concerning,” she says.
“It’s a conversation I’m having with almost all of my friends.”
Rising living costs, higher interest rates and tighter lending conditions are reshaping the region’s housing landscape, leaving first-home buyers and renters under growing strain.
Miranda, founder, human resources and start-up coach at Those Who Dare, bought her first home at 31 after significant sacrifices to save a deposit.
“We were lucky to get into the market once, but now I’m back at square one, and that’s a pretty confronting reality for a lot of people my age,” she says.
“We saved our asses off. There were no big holidays, no constant dinners out.
“A lot of the things you see other people doing just weren’t an option.
“It’s definitely a long-term game.”
That long-term mindset, she believes, is becoming harder to maintain in a world of constant comparison.
“Consistent and deliberate saving habits are everything,” Miranda says.
“Social media makes it hard.
“You see everyone living their best lives, but if you’re confident and honest about what you’re working towards, people tend to respect that.”
For many young residents, though, saving isn’t just about discipline – it’s about survival.
Brie McAllister, 29, works in the dental care field and rents with friends.
Like many renters her age, she’s feeling the strain of soaring weekly costs, with little room left to plan for the future.
“I currently live in a share house with my friends which costs almost $900 a week in rent for three bedrooms,” Brie says.
“None of us would be able to pay that rent if we were on our own.
“Saving to buy a house seems very out of reach these days, unless you have wealthy parents who can give you a helping hand.”
Brie’s situation reflects a growing reality on the Coast, where rental prices are climbing to levels that rival mortgage repayments, yet deposits remain stubbornly out of reach.
While many young renters can demonstrate they reliably pay high weekly rents, saving tens-of-thousands of dollars at the same time is proving to be the biggest barrier.
Despite the pressure, there are still pathways forward, Matt Punter, director of TSC Mortgage Brokers in Caloundra, says.
“There are genuine opportunities available right now through government grants, stamp duty concessions and targeted schemes that can significantly reduce the upfront barriers to buying a first home,” he says.
For Matt, the key is preparation.
“Understanding your full financial position well before you plan to buy – borrowing capacity, cash contributions, grants, concessions, ongoing costs and buffers – allows young buyers to make informed decisions and move with confidence when the right opportunity arises.”
Expectations around location can also hold first-home buyers back, particularly in a region as lifestyle driven as the Coast.
“Some flexibility around location, perhaps a little further away from the beach and main centres, may be required to get that first entry into the market,” Matt says.
“With the right planning, advice and realistic expectations, home ownership can still be achievable for our youth –but only if all the numbers are understood upfront.”
That advice comes at a critical time.
Young Queenslanders, aged 25 to 39, have seen the biggest drop in home ownership, with the state’s overall rate now at 64 per cent – the lowest of any state.
Finder data shows more than one-in-three homeowners are struggling to meet repayments, while over a third of Australians who don’t own property believe they never will.
Renting has become even tougher, with the Coast among the most strained markets in the state.
The Sunshine Coast’s rental vacancy rate sits at just 0.7 per cent, the Real Estate Institute of Queensland’s December Quarter 2025 Residential Vacancy Rate Report reveals.
This is well below a ‘healthy’ vacancy rate, which is considered to be between 2.6 and 3.5 per cent.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella says the figures reflect another year of intense competition for renters.
“We all need a roof over our heads – whether we rent it or own it,” Antonia says.
She says Queensland’s reliance on rental housing is particularly high, with renters making up 36 per cent of the population – above the national average.
“It’s like a game of ‘musical chairs’,” she says. “When rental supply falls short, it’s the most vulnerable people in our community who are left standing.”
That pressure is evident in Queensland’s social housing waitlist, which now sits at almost 59,000 people.
Antonia says helping renters transition into home ownership is a key lever in easing demand, particularly for younger Queenslanders.
She has welcomed initiatives such as shared-equity schemes and first-home buyer stamp duty relief.
Supply remains the other side of the equation.
To meet nationally agreed targets, Queensland needs to build about 49,000 new dwellings each year.
Yet, only 34,000 were completed in the 12 months to September last year.
At the same time, frontline organisations responding to the housing crisis are operating at breaking point, new research by Everybody’s Home shows.
The national housing campaign’s No Way Out sector survey of dozens of frontline organisations found nine-in-10 (89 per cent) reported increased workloads over the past year, while almost all (98 per cent) expect demand for their services to rise further in 2026.
“In a grim irony, the housing crisis is affecting the very workers who are on the frontlines of it,” Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize says.
“This crisis is the result of decades of policy choices that prioritise supporting investors over social housing for people who need it.
“We’re seeing growing numbers of people who are doing everything right being failed by the system.
“Services right across the sector are calling for the federal government to take responsibility with a national response that matches the scale of the emergency, by ending the social housing shortfall, winding back tax handouts for property investors, raising income support and protecting renters.”
In this year’s federal budget, Maiy says the government has the opportunity to act and prevent housing insecurity from deepening further and becoming more entrenched.
On the Coast, the crisis is complex and deeply personal – but the solutions may already be on the table.
