Australian Property News

Home ownership rates plummet

Posted on Monday, March 21 2011 at 12:03 PM

Australia's home ownership rates are falling, despite international trends which show home ownership in other countries is rising.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which represents the governments of the world’s developed nations, says new research illustrates the high costs of Australia's housing undersupply.

The Urban Taskforce's chief executive Aaron Gadiel says Australia is one of just five countries where home ownership rates have fallen since the 1990s.

"Australia is grouped with Greece, Mexico, France and Luxembourg as countries where an increased share of the population can't access a home of their own," he says.

While Australia's home ownership level dropped from 71.4 to 69.5 per cent, home ownership:

• in the United States increased from 66.2 per cent to 68.7 per cent;

• in the United Kingdom increased from 67.5 per cent to 70.7 per cent;

• in Canada increased from 61.3 per cent to 68.9 per cent;

• in Germany increased from 36.3 per cent to 41 per cent.

The OECD says Australia's homeownership rate would have declined even further, had it not been for our ageing population.

"Older Australians are more likely to own their own home, so our changing demographics have propped up the headline home ownerships rate, disguising significant falls in home ownership amongst young and middle-aged Australians," Gadiel says.

"If the impact of our ageing population was excluded, the OECD concludes our levels of home ownership would have fallen by nearly another one per cent."