Certain age groups exhibit more significant declines in home ownership rates over time. Between 1971 and 2016, home ownership for households with a reference person aged 25–34 years declined from 57.0 per cent to 44.6 per cent, whilst in the 35–44 years age range, rates fell from 71.4 per cent to 62.2 per cent. For these younger households, home ownership peaked in 1981, at 61.1 per cent for those aged 25–34 years and 75.3 per cent for those aged 35–44 years. Figures by individuals (and not by household) are typically even lower, as individuals often live in owner-occupied dwellings where they are not the owners (for example, adult children with their parents), and are not identified in the household-level statistics (which are classified by tenure of head of household). Although older households are overall more likely to own their own home than younger households, it is not clear that these younger cohorts will catch up to the home ownership rates of previous generations.
Figure 1: home ownership rates by age of household reference person, based on Census data
Source: Based on ABS Census data, 1971 to 2016; AIHW analysis of customised report. * Data for 1991 interpolated using linear interpolation. Data excludes ‘not stated’.
