HOME OWNERSHIP IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS
Introduction
Highlights from this release
Further information
INTRODUCTION
Adequate housing contributes to individual and collective well-being, providing shelter, security and, in the case of home ownership, a store of wealth. For many Australians, owning a home has long been seen as ''the great Australian dream". Compared to other OECD countries, Australia has historically had high rates of home ownership. However since the 1990s, as other countries experienced an increase in home ownership rates, Australia has experienced a decline. Home ownership rates are affected by many factors, from the availability of land and housing, investment and construction levels, to changes in the population, people's economic circumstances and preferences about where people want to establish a home.
Across Australia, many regional plans have reported a range of concerns relating to housing availability and affordability, including shortages of public housing, rental housing, student accommodation and housing for seasonal workers; limited land for new housing developments to match population growth; and a need for more suitable housing for elderly residents.
Like the range of housing issues faced by regions, rates of home ownership vary markedly across Australia, and in some regions, these rates have changed in ways that are quite different from the national averages. This article is the first in a series of three articles which use Census data to explore home ownership and rental rates across Australia, in the states and territories, and in Local Government Areas (LGAs). This article focuses on home ownership rates (including homes owned outright plus those owned with a mortgage).
Future articles will focus on the proportion of homes owned with a mortgage and rental rates, and will also include analysis of median mortgage and rental payments.
Just over two-thirds (67.0%) of Australian households owned their home (with or without a mortgage) at the time of the 2011 Census. Tasmania recorded the highest home ownership rate of all states and territories (70.4%) and the Northern Territory the lowest (46.2%). Of all the LGAs in Australia, Golden Plains and Nillumbik, both in Victoria, recorded the highest home ownership rates, with 88.5% and 88.4% respectively. LGAs with low home ownership rates were mostly located in the Northern Territory and far north Queensland.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS RELEASE
Every five years as part of the Census, householders are asked about the nature of their tenure in the dwelling they occupy on Census Night. The Census provides a snapshot of housing occupancy in Australia at a point in time and is an important source of regional data.
In 2011, there were 9.1 million dwellings in Australia, an increase of 8.2% since the 2006 Census. Over this period, the number of dwellings grew at a similar rate to the population, which increased by 8.3%. This article looks at the tenure of occupied private dwellings, excluding 'Visitor only' and 'Other non-classifiable' households.
Just over two-thirds (67.0%) of Australian households owned their home (with or without a mortgage) at the time of the 2011 Census, down from a rate of 68.1% in 2006. The proportion of households that owned their dwelling outright decreased between Censuses (from 34.0% in 2006 to 32.1% in 2011), while the proportion of households that owned their dwelling with a mortgage increased (from 34.1% in 2006 to 34.9% in 2011).
Graph 1. DWELLINGS(a) BY TENURE TYPE - 2006 and 2011
(a) Total occupied private dwellings, excluding 'Visitor only' and 'Other non-classifiable' households.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and 2011
In 2011, Tasmania and Victoria recorded the highest home ownership rates of all states and territories, 70.4% and 70.1% respectively. The Northern Territory had the lowest home ownership rate with 46.2%. Home ownership rates declined in all states and territories between 2006 and 2011. New South Wales had the smallest decline (from 66.7% in 2006 to 66.5% in 2011) and Queensland had the largest decline (from 65.4% in 2006 to 63.5% in 2011).
Graph 2. HOME OWNERSHIP RATES(a) BY STATE AND TERRITORY - 2006 and 2011
(a) The home ownership rate is the number of occupied private dwellings which were owned outright,
owned with a mortgage or being purchased under a rent/buy scheme by a member of the household,
expressed as a proportion of total occupied private dwellings.
Excludes 'Visitor only' and 'Other non-classifiable' households.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2006 and 2011
The proportion of dwellings owned outright was highest in Tasmania (36.2%) and lowest in the Northern Territory (15.6%). The proportion of dwellings owned with a mortgage was highest in the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia (38.9% and 37.8% respectively), and lowest in the Northern Territory (30.6%). Tasmania was the only state or territory in which the proportion of homes that were owned outright was higher than the proportion of homes owned with a mortgage.
Graph 3. DWELLINGS(a) BY TENURE TYPE, States and Territories - 2011
(a) Total occupied private dwellings, excluding 'Visitor only' and 'Other non-classifiable' households.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2011
FURTHER INFORMATION
Additional analysis and home ownership information data for all LGAs, are available in
Perspectives on Regional Australia: Housing Arrangements - Home Ownership in Local Government Areas, 2011 (cat. no. 1380.0.55.010). The publication also includes a detailed explanation of the methodology used and the limitations of using Census data to calculate home ownership rates.
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