
It’s been predicted that in a few years, less than half of Australian adults will own their own home, driven by sky-high property prices which are seeing younger buyers locked out of the great Australian dream. Sydney is feeling the pinch more than any other city, with NSW having the equal-lowest rate of home ownership in the country, according to the nation's largest and most comprehensive household survey of 17,000 people.
Over the past 15 years there has been a decline in the proportion of Australian households which are owner-occupied. In 2001 this figure was at 69 per cent and by 2014 it had dropped to 65 per cent, according to the latest data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA). However, not all adults who live in owner-occupied housing own the homes they live in, including elderly parents, siblings or live-in partners.
At an individual level, just 51.7 per cent of Australians aged 18+ owned a home in 2014, the HILDA data shows, down from 57 per cent in 2002. And it is likely that in the next few years less than half of adults will be home owners, according to the report. Conversely, between 2002 and 2014 the proportion of households owning investment properties increased from 17 per cent to 21 per cent.