THE dream of home ownership is slipping away for many Australians as the latest Census results highlight the increasing number of renters.
The results released today show the trend towards renting rather than owning continued, with nationwide figures showing a slight change.
Australians who owned their own home outright declined from 32.1 per cent in 2011 to 31 per cent. In the last 25 years this has declined by more than 10 per cent.
Those still paying off a mortgage also decreased slightly from 34.9 per cent to 34.5 per cent.
In contrast those renting increased slightly from 29.6 per cent to 30.9 per cent in 2016.
In more bad news for renters, they are also forking out more, with the median household weekly rent jumping from $285 to $335.
The percentage of households who are now paying more than 30 per cent of their income in rent has also increased, rising from 10.4 per cent to 11.5 per cent.
But there was good news for mortgage holders, with the median mortgage repayment dropping from $1800 in 2011, to $1755.
The results also varied across states and territories.
NSW, Victoria, Northern Territory and ACT showed bigger declines in home ownership, while the percentage of ownership actually increased in Western Australia.
Australia’s most western state also bucked the trend when it came to renting — it was the only one to show a decrease in renters. Victoria showed the biggest increase in this.
First Home Buyers Australia director Taj Singh told news.com.au it was no surprise to see those states with declining home ownership, considering the median house prices in NSW and Victoria.
“The new state policies (to abolish and provide concessions for stamp duty) will help first home buyers,” Mr Singh said. “However only those looking to buy entry level apartments and homes as some of the prices of these are even out of a first home buyer’s reach.”
In contrast Western Australia was dealing with a cooling property market as the end of the mining boom has led to many job losses.
In areas where property prices were still increasing, Mr Singh said the government should consider a New Zealand-like policy where investors were forced to save a larger deposit or to have significant equity in order to get a loan.
While the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) did order banks to restrict lending on interest-only loans this year, Mr Singh said more needed to be done as interest rates remained at historic lows, meaning loans were still affordable for investors.
Mr Singh said the optimal way to increase home ownership was to restrict investor demand.
“The federal government really needs to address through scaling back negative gearing and adjusting the generous CGT concessions for investors,” he said.
Results of the 2016 Census released today show a changing Australia.
The number of Australians older than 65 has grown by nearly 665,000 since the 2011 Census, data released on Tuesday shows.
In the past five years 1.3 million migrants have arrived and for the first time in our history the majority of people born overseas are now from Asia, not Europe.
The proportion of people reporting no religion increased to almost one-third, nearly double the 16 per cent recorded in 2001.
More people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and they now account for 2.8 per cent of the population.
NSW remains the most populous state, home to nearly 7.5 million people. It was followed by Victoria and Queensland.
The Australian Capital Territory experienced the largest population growth over the past five years, boosting its population by more than 40,000 – an 11 per cent increase.
The median weekly personal income is $662, compared to a family at $1734.
The number of same-sex couples increased by 39 per cent from 2011 to 46,800 now. The median age of the couples was 40.
Australians renting are on the rise. Picture: Dave Hunt/AAPSource:AAP
