Australian homes are getting larger and 7 other surprising insights into the property market
There’s a lot of concern in the population about the affordability of housing in Australia. For many people, the idea of owning a home seems unattainable as house prices continue to increase.
Foreign investment, immigration and negative gearing appear to be pushing prices up. Yet this is a time when banks are ready to offer larger loans with historically low interest rates, and there are more two-income households to pay the mortgage.
Here are 8 insights to the Australian property market:
1. In Australia there are approximately 9 million dwellings with 67 per cent of these being owned or paid off (according to the 2011 Census). Home ownership has dropped by 1.1% since the 2006 Census.
2. Home ownership has remained between 50 and 70 per cent over recent years. There was a lift from 53 per cent in 1947 to 63 per cent in 1954. It then rose to 70 per cent in 1961.
3. Older Australians are more likely to be home owners, with 85 per cent of those aged 75 or older owning their home outright – just 3 per cent have a mortgage and under 10 per cent are renting.
4. The price of housing compared to household income is a good way to look at the affordability of housing. In 1981 to 82 it took around three years of a household’s income to pay off a mortgage. In Sydney it went above nine during the early 2000’s property boom. Today it sits nationally just over six years.
5. Our homes are also getting larger. In Australia new homes are, on average, bigger than anywhere else in the world at 245 square metres for a freestanding house.
6. Australians have more spare rooms than we used to. The average number of bedrooms has risen from 2.8 in 1976 to 3.1 today; while the number of people per household has gone down from 3.1 to 2.6
7. You may have already guessed that Sydney the hottest property market in Australia is Sydney. From December 2013 to December 2014 house prices in Sydney increased an incredible 12.2 per cent. In second place was Brisbane at 5.3 per cent, with Melbourne coming in third at 4.5 per cent.
8. There are over 100,000 Australians considered homeless, with forty per cent of those aged over 35. 56 per cent are male and 44 per cent are female.
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