Exploring current home ownership rates in Australia

While Australians all over dream of purchasing their own slice of paradise, it's arguably never been harder to get a foothold on the property ladder. Between the cost of living crisis, record high rents and house prices, and stubborn interest rates, would-be first home buyers are increasingly struggling to keep up.

That's not to say owning a home is impossible. After all, the majority of Australians own their digs.

So, if you're losing hope, or simply wondering how your housing situation stacks up against the broader country, here's the data on Australian homeownership. 

How many Australians own their own home?

Homeownership rates among Australians have been trending downwards in recent decades.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), homeownership rates fell from 70% in 1997-98 to 66% in 2019-20.

Considering today's population, the shift in homeownership over the last 20 years is equivalent to a decrease of around 1.1 million homeowners.

It also could be said to represent an increase of around 1.6 million private market renters – the larger number likely due to a drop in households renting from a state or territory housing authority (5.8% in 1999-00, falling to 2.9% in 2019-20).

But as Shaun Bond, Frank Finn Professor of Finance at the University of Queensland Business School, explains, there’s more to this trend than meets the eye.

"I think that number, in and of itself, hides the most important part of the story," he told Your Mortgage.

"The big story has probably been the decline in home ownership rates in younger age groups, where we've seen a pretty significant drop."

^{Image: Professor Shaun Bond}

Homeownership shifts amongst younger Australians

You might have noticed that fewer Australians appear to be purchasing their first home during early adulthood nowadays.

Indeed, Millennials are the least likely generation to have bought a home before their 29th birthday, as the chart below shows:

So, why are young people less likely to purchase their own home today than they were in previous generations? 

An RBA report attributes much of the decline in homeownership to two key financial barriers:

• Increasing deposit costs, directly tied to rising house prices
• Higher transaction costs, such as stamp duty

However, Professor Bond suggests demographic shifts also play a significant role.

"Some of what we see with regard to falling homeownership rates goes beyond just that homes are expensive - obviously homes are expensive - but there's another demographic dimension playing out as well," he said.

Professor Bond’s research indicates that it's typically the formation of a household (ergo, moving in with a partner) and the presence of children that leads homebuyers to enter the housing market.

"In a lot of Western countries, what we find is the age at which people are getting married or cohabiting tends to be getting older, and people are also delaying having children," he said.

"I think it's important to consider that younger people have different choices, and actually pursuing an education and pursuing a career might actually pay off in the longer term.

"We know education levels are increasing and are probably playing a role, a lot of people are focused on their career earlier on, and a lot of people are also choosing to do other things when they're younger, like traveling."

That's not to say that higher house prices aren't a factor in the decline of homeownership. It's worth noting that the first home buyers entering the market generally appear to be more and more reliant on family and government assistance. Since 2020, around 40% of first home buyers have received financial assistance from family to purchase, while 30% leaned on the Home Guarantee Scheme in financial year 2023-24.

"Australia needs to have important discussions about how we think about affordability for those who are on very low incomes or limited incomes," Professor Bond said.

"We need to be having that broader conversation around affordability and how we increase housing supply, and I think that should be an important part of the discussion going forward."

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The Aussie areas where more people own homes

Just like house prices vary across the country, so do homeownership rates.

Looking across the nation, South Australia, Western Australia, and the ACT have the highest home ownership rates, with 69% of households owning their dwelling as of the 2021 Census.

On the other hand, households in the Northern Territory are the least likely to own, with just 59% of households in the red centre owning their residence.

	Homeowners	Renters
NSW	64%	33%
Victoria	68%	29%
Queensland	64%	35%
SA	69%	28%
WA	69%	28%
Tasmania	68%	29%
ACT	69%	28%
NT	59%	40%

Residents of Tasmania are most likely to own their house outright, with a third of homeowners not holding a mortgage over their property.

Meanwhile, housing costs appeared to be highest in NSW, as of the 2021 Census.

	Average weekly cost of renting	Average weekly cost of holding a mortgage	Average weekly cost of owning outright
NSW	$432	$574	$51
Victoria	$388	$501	$57
Queensland	$355	$447	$53
SA	$282	$390	$57
WA	$314	$443	$53
Tasmania	$281	$346	$45
ACT	$393	$546	$74
NT	$367	$534	$53

How has housing affordability changed since the 2021 Census?

When the most recent Census was conducted in August 2021, Australia's median dwelling value was around $710,000, as per CoreLogic data and a typical new home loan demanded an interest rate of 2.7% p.a., RBA data reveals.

As at the time of writing, the nation's median dwelling value has risen to around $815,000 and the typical new variable home loan rate is approximately 6.3% p.a.

Considering such rates, the monthly mortgage repayments on a typical, newly purchased, and median priced property may have risen from around $2,300 to approximately $4,000 – a 74% increase – assuming a buyer were to put down a 20% deposit and agree to a 30-year loan term.

See also: Mortgage Repayment Calculator

How does homeownership in Australia compare to in other countries?

As mentioned above, Australian housing is among the most expensive compared to incomes in the world. So, with that in mind, it might stand to reason that home ownership would be lower here than elsewhere. However, that's not necessarily the case.

Here's how Australia's homeownership rates compare to those of similar economies, a selection of which are noted below:

Country	Approximate homeownership rate	Date of data
Canada	66%	2021
New Zealand	66%	2023
United States	66%	2024
United Kingdom	64%	2023

Looking beyond economies and government systems similar to those of Australia, some nations have comparatively whopping homeownership rates.

Take China for instance, which has a homeownership rate of more than 90%, or the openly communist nation of Laos, where nearly 96% of the population own their home.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong – often said to house the world's most unaffordable property market – only around 54% of residents live in privately-purchased housing. Another 15% own subsidised housing and 30% rent.

_{Image by lookstudio on Freepik}