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7NEWS
27 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Empty nest crisis: 61 per cent of Australian households have just one or two occupants
While many may have the vision of the Great Australian Dream being a family house filled with mum, dad and the kids, new analysis paints a very different picture. A total of 61 per cent of Australian households are made up of just one or two people, yet the bulk of our housing stock is built for families, according to new analysis from Cotality. Eliza Owen, Head of Research at Cotality, who undertook the research, said the findings were a shock to her. "It was a big surprise," said Ms Owen. "I think when we talk about housing we think a lot of the Great Australian Dream being a big family home with kids in the yard." Home alone In fact, only around 30 per cent of Australian households are families with children. A further 31 per cent are couples with children or dependents. Meanwhile, 27 per cent are people living alone, according to the research based on ABS data. The data also revealed that of those living alone, 40 per cent are aged 65 and over. Ms Owen said that household size was a mismatch to the size and type of housing in Australia today. "The highest share of households is two people, but the highest share of housing has three bedrooms according to Cotality data, " Ms Owen said. "The next-highest share is of one-person households at 27 per cent, but one-bedroom and studio homes together make up just 6 per cent of Australia's housing stock." Why won't we move on from large houses? There are a number of reasons why we are wedded to the large detached family house as our Great Australian Dream. As housing is seen as an investment vehicle, along with being a shelter in Australia today, people are unwilling to stray away from the value of a house. "Bedrooms are one of the main variables that influence the value of a property," said Ms Owen. "So having more bedrooms means a more expensive price point, and there are also prospects for more capital growth, and that could be adding to the demand for larger dwellings as well." As the growth in house prices has continued to outperform units, there has been more incentive to stay put in the family house. "Houses reliably attract higher rates of capital growth over time," said Ms Owen. "The annualised five-year rate of growth for a four-bedroom home was almost 9 per cent a year compared to less than four per cent for a one-bedroom apartment. "So the more we view housing through that lens of asset and wealth accumulation, the more it stacks up for larger housing, even if we don't need all those bedrooms." The way forward The answer to this problem is for governments to make it more expensive to have more housing than you need and cheaper to live in smaller housing, according to Ms Owen. "This leads many to advocate for tax reform like abolishing stamp duty, which makes it cheaper to move housing,and replacing it with a broad-based land tax, which raises costs the more land you own. "These options are both politically difficult as they would involve moving from a tax that applies to a small number of voters each year who purchase property to one that will tax two-thirds of voters (property owners). "This would, however, potentially introduce an incentive for older Australians who own their home outright to downsize." She said that reforming pension asset tests to include the value of the family home would also help the numbers stack. Building better There were encouraging signs on the new type of housing that was being developed across Australia too. "There has been a slight uplift in the portion of new homes that are units," Ms Owen said. "And I think as well, developers are starting to see that good, well-built units are attractive for families as well.
SBS Australia
an hour ago
- SBS Australia
Most Australian houses are designed for bigger families. But that's not who's in them
Sixty-one per cent of households are singles or couples, but housing is dominated by three to four-bedroom homes. Economists propose reforms like land taxes and scrapping stamp duty to encourage downsizing. Older Australians hold much of the larger housing stock, leaving scope to free homes for younger families. Australian households are mostly one or two people, but analysis shows the housing stock is dominated by three-and four-bedroom properties. Couples without kids and people living alone make up 61 per cent of households, raising the question of how well a housing market focused on bigger families is serving real demand. A comparison between the number of people in a household and data on housing by number of bedrooms shows a stark mismatch, according to the latest analysis from property research firm Cotality. Research head Eliza Owen said a potential solution could lie in government housing reform. Governments could make it more expensive to have more housing than needed, and cheaper for those who opt to live in smaller properties. Abolishing taxes such as stamp duty could make it cheaper for those to move across different housing, and the introduction of a broad-based land tax would raise costs for those who own more land. "It's politically unpopular but has broad consensus among economists that it would help us achieve a more efficient housing market," she told the Australian Associated Press. The data also highlights the high number of empty-nest households of people aged 65 and over. "There's a lot of scope for older Australians to leave their homes to free up homes for younger generations," Owen added. "But it's really hard to implement taxes to encourage people to downsize. "Things like broad-based land taxes are an incentive for income-poor but asset-rich Australians to downsize." Strides are already being taken on the supply side to establish well-located apartments in larger cities to accommodate smaller households, but shifting demand through tax reform could help the take-up of these homes. "It's a tough transition to make," Owen said. "But it's also a really hard ask to young families to pay a million dollars to own a house in one of our major cities."
AU Financial Review
an hour ago
- AU Financial Review
Canberra mulls critical minerals price support to combat China: Rudd
Washington | Australia is in discussions with like-minded nations and trading partners as it considers ways to support prices for domestically processed critical minerals, which former prime minister Kevin Rudd says is a crucial step to breaking China's worrying hold on the sector. Rudd, who is now Australia's ambassador to the US, said Australian mining expertise and a burgeoning critical minerals processing industry, backed by billions in government subsidies, put the country in a good position to support President Donald Trump's bid to ensure the US has a stable supply of minerals needed for defence and technology uses.
