For decades, home ownership has been closely associated with the Australian Dream. As noted by Bluett (2017), buying a home has long been viewed as an important part of the Australian way of life, with most Australians considering home ownership a key element of Australian society. This strong cultural connection has helped shape Australia’s identity as a nation of homeowners. However, rising housing costs and changing housing patterns raise an uncomfortable question: is Australia slowly becoming a nation of renters?
Home ownership still remains the dominant form of housing tenure, but recent trends suggest the gap may be narrowing. This analysis examines how ownership and renting have changed over time, which age groups are most likely to rent, and whether renters face greater housing cost pressure than homeowners. Together, these patterns offer insight into what Australia’s housing future may look like and whether younger generations are being pushed further away from home ownership.
Home ownership remains the dominant housing tenure in Australia, but the gap between owners and renters has gradually narrowed. This chart shows how ownership and renting have changed from 1994–95 to 2019–20.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, Table 1.3.
Australia is still mainly a nation of homeowners, but the direction is changing. Home ownership declined from 71.4% in 1994–95 to 66.2% in 2019–20, while renting increased from 25.7% to 31.4%. The shift is gradual rather than dramatic, but it shows that renting is becoming a larger part of Australia’s housing story.
The national trend hides an important question: who is driving the shift towards renting? This chart compares home ownership and renting across different age groups in 2019–20.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Housing Occupancy and Costs, Age of household reference person, Table 6.1.
The shift towards renting is concentrated among younger Australians. More than four in five households aged 15–24 are renters, while ownership becomes increasingly common with age. This suggests that younger generations are entering the housing market under very different conditions from older Australians, making them far more dependent on renting.
Young Australians are more likely to rent, but does renting also come with greater financial pressure? This chart examines housing cost stress among lower-income households and compares the proportion of owners and renters spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Housing Costs as a Proportion of Income, Table 5.2.
Housing cost pressure is not shared equally across housing groups. Nearly half of lower-income renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, compared with 37.4% of owners with a mortgage and less than 1% of owners without a mortgage. This suggests that renters face the greatest affordability challenge. Combined with the previous chart, the findings indicate that younger Australians are not only more likely to rent, but are also more likely to experience significant housing stress.
The previous chart showed that renters face the greatest housing cost pressure. This chart takes the analysis one step further by examining which age groups are most affected. It shows the proportion of lower-income households spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Housing Costs as a Proportion of Income, Table 5.2.
Housing cost pressure is heavily concentrated among younger Australians. More than half of lower-income households aged 15–24 spend over 30% of their income on housing, compared with fewer than 10% of those aged 75 and over. The steady decline across age groups suggests that housing affordability improves with age, while younger households face the greatest barriers. Combined with the previous findings, the evidence indicates that younger Australians are both more likely to rent and more likely to experience housing stress.
The previous charts showed that younger Australians are more likely to rent and more likely to experience housing cost pressure. This final chart brings those findings together to examine whether the same age groups are affected by both trends.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022), Housing Occupancy and Costs (Table 6.1) and Housing Costs as a Proportion of Income (Table 5.2).
The evidence consistently points to younger Australians as the group most affected by housing affordability challenges. The age groups with the highest renting rates are also the age groups experiencing the highest levels of housing cost pressure. Both indicators decline steadily with age, suggesting that younger households face a double challenge: greater reliance on renting and greater financial pressure. While Australia remains a nation of homeowners overall, these trends suggest that home ownership may become increasingly difficult to achieve for future generations.
Australia remains a nation of homeowners, but the trend is gradually changing. Home ownership has declined while renting has become more common over time. The findings show that younger Australians are more likely to rent and more likely to experience housing cost pressure than older age groups. This suggests that affordability challenges may be making home ownership increasingly difficult for younger generations. Australia has not yet become a nation of renters. However, if current trends continue, renting may play a much larger role in Australia’s housing future.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022). Housing Occupancy and Costs. Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-occupancy-and-costs/latest-release Bluett, R. (2017). A brief history of Australia’s obsession with home ownership. ABCNews. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-23/why-australians-are-obsessed-with-owning-property/8830976