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Rising property prices and tight markets have seen the established “bank of mum and dad” increase over the last five years, with parents handing out more money and expecting less in return.
Rising property prices and larger home loan deposit sizes have seen the average amount borrowed from the bank of mum and dad grow over the last couple of years to $74,040 in 2025, according to a new report from Mozo.
Mozo’s Bank of Mum and Dad Report 2025 surveyed over 1,019 Australian parents with adult children to investigate the current role that parental financial support plays for first home buyers.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australian house prices have increased by over 51 per cent since March 2019, rising from $646,000 to $976,800 at the end of 2024.
This surge has meant that the amount that first home buyers are required to save for a standard 20 per cent home loan deposit has soared by $66,160 over five years to now be $195,360.
While responses to Mozo’s survey showed that the average amount given by parents for a home deposit rose from $69,907 in 2021 to $74,040 in 2025, expectations of repayment for this support have reduced over time.
In its most recent survey, Mozo observed that 49 per cent of parents who provided financial assistance to their children said they did not expect to be repaid, with more than a quarter (26 per cent) explicitly stating that the money was given as a gift.
Compared to survey results from the website 2021 survey, which showed that just one-third did not expect to see a return on the financial support they provided, Mozo noted that the years leading up to 2025 have seen the “gift of mum and dad” become more commonplace.
Mozo’s personal finance expert, Rachel Wastell, said that this shift was reflective of the change in attitudes around the pathway to home ownership, and how many parents now see their financial contributions as a chance to further strengthen their family’s wealth and legacy.
“In 2021, a third of parents didn’t expect repayment, now it’s three-quarters. That’s not a bank, or a loan, that’s a legacy,” Wastell said.
Despite changing attitudes towards familial lending, Mozo’s latest survey revealed that parents have shifted away from riskier support methods over time, such as agreeing to be a guarantor, decreasing from 15 per cent in 2021 to just 8 per cent in 2025.
Alternatively, parents are increasingly seeking to provide safer forms of financial support, with the current 23 per cent of parents offering accommodation rent-free to help their children save for a deposit, representing an increase from 15 per cent in 2021.
The practice of parents buying a property on behalf of children has diminished in popularity since 2021, when 11 per cent chose this option, with just 3 per cent opting for this method in 2025.
Additionally, Mozo’s findings showed that parents have become less willing to compromise their own living arrangement to support their children financially, with 76 per cent of parents ruling out downsizing to help their children in 2025, compared to 55 per cent in 2021.
Moreover, the amount of parents who responded that they had already downsized to assist their children also fell from levels of 14 per cent in 2021, to only 3 per cent in 2025.
While parents have shown more hesitancy to support their children, Wastell noted that the increased difficulties around saving for a housing deposit have transformed the way that the traditional “bank of mum and dad” operates.
“The property ladder is losing those bottom rungs and Aussie parents are stepping in to build new ones, using their own savings,” Wastell said.
These findings follow the release last month of a report from the Real Estate Institute of Australia that showed first home buyer activity picked up 5.5 per cent over the most recent quarter to 31,036, but still remained 1.3 per cent lower than levels from one year prior.
Industry bodies have also warned that recent election pledges to support first home buyers from the re-elected Labor government could instead lead to rising house prices, low supply and increased competition that could impact all buyers in the market.
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