Section 01
Total homeownersHow many Australians own their home?
The 2021 Census counted 10,852,208 occupied private dwellings across Australia. Roughly two in three were owner-occupied, split almost evenly between households that own outright and those still paying off a mortgage. The remaining third rent, either privately or through public housing.
The combined home ownership rate of 66% was below the roughly 70% recorded in the early 1980s. Outright ownership has fallen over the longer term, while mortgage ownership has become more common. Since 2003, more households have owned their homes with a mortgage than have owned their homes outright.
Source: ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
Section 02
Mortgage holdersHow many Australians have a mortgage?
Around 3.8 million households, or 35% of all occupied private dwellings, owned their home with a mortgage at the 2021 Census. The national median outstanding mortgage debt was $275,000 in 2019–20, with weekly housing costs averaging $493, equal to about 16% of gross household income.
In 1997–98, outright ownership was 39.5% and mortgage ownership was 30.9%. By 2019–20, outright ownership had dropped to 29.5%, while mortgage ownership had risen to 36.8%. Private renting also increased, from 20% to 26.2% over the same period.
New lending fell in the March quarter 2026 after rising through 2025. ABS Lending Indicators show 139,794 new dwelling loan commitments in the March quarter 2026, seasonally adjusted and excluding refinancing, down 6.2% from the December quarter 2025 but still 8.6% higher than a year earlier. Owner-occupier commitments fell 6.9% over the quarter, investor commitments fell 5.3%, and owner-occupier first home buyer commitments fell 4.3%. The average new loan size across all dwelling commitments was $724,415 nationally in the March quarter 2026, up 9.0% from a year earlier. Among owner-occupier loans specifically, the average was about $735,000.
- Owned outright
- Owned with mortgage
- Private renter
Source: ABS Survey of Income and Housing, 1997–98 to 2019–20.
Source: ABS Housing Occupancy and Costs, 2019–20; ABS Lending Indicators, March quarter 2026.
Section 03
Who is buyingWho is buying homes in Australia?
Age is the strongest driver of home ownership in Australia. Ownership rises sharply through people's 30s and 40s, then levels out in their 60s and 70s. Every generation born since the mid-1950s has reached each age group with lower ownership rates than the generation before.
Australians born between 1947 and 1951 reached a 54.2% home ownership rate at ages 25–29. Those born from 1992 to 1996 had reached just 36.1% at the same stage of life, an 18-percentage-point gap. This may reflect rising prices, larger deposits and longer mortgage terms, pushing the ownership timeline back for each successive generation.
- 1947-51
- 1957-61
- 1967-71
- 1977-81
- 1987-91
- 1992-96
Source: AIHW analysis of ABS Census data.
- First home buyers
- Changeover buyers
Source: ABS Survey of Income and Housing, 2019–20.
56.1% of first home buyers who purchased in the three years to 2019–20 were aged between 25 and 34, up from 49.6% in 2017–18. The share under 25 remained small at 5.3%, consistent with the income and savings thresholds required for mortgage approval.
Changeover buyers are usually older. Around 24% of changeover purchases in 2019–20 were made by households aged 65 or over, likely reflecting retirees using built-up home equity to downsize rather than buying for investment.
Section 04
Dwelling typesWhat types of homes do Australians live in?
Of Australia's 10.85 million occupied private dwellings, separate houses make up the majority. The 2021 Census counted 7.7 million separate houses, equal to roughly 71% of all homes. High-density apartments in buildings of nine or more storeys accounted for 394,303 homes nationally, concentrated mainly in NSW and Victoria.
Source: ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Administrative Data Snapshot.
The state breakdown shows how housing types vary across Australia. New South Wales had the highest share of flats and apartments, partly reflecting Sydney's higher-density housing mix. Western Australia and Queensland had larger detached-house shares, while Victoria stood out for medium-density housing. The 2021 Census counted 237,779 one-storey townhouses in Victoria, more than any other state.
Section 05
State by stateWhich Australian states have the highest home ownership rates?
Home ownership is not evenly spread across Australia, with clear differences between states and territories. Rates range from 59% in the Northern Territory to 69.3% in Western Australia. The Northern Territory, Western Australia and the ACT have the highest shares of mortgaged households.
- Outright
- Mortgage
- Renting
Source: ABS Housing Occupancy and Costs, 2019–20, unless otherwise stated.
| State / territory | Ownership | Mortgaged | Outright | Renting | Median mortgage | Cost % of income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 64% | 34% | 30% | 33% | $302,000 | 17% |
| Victoria | 68% | 37% | 31% | 29% | $285,000 | 16% |
| Queensland | 64% | 36% | 28% | 35% | $261,000 | 15% |
| South Australia | 69% | 39% | 30% | 28% | $216,000 | 14% |
| Western Australia | 69.3% | 42.7% | 26.6% | 28% | $280,000 | 14% |
| Tasmania | 68% | 35% | 33% | 29% | $177,000 | 15% |
| Northern Territory | 59% | 43% | 16% | 40% | $321,000 | 16% |
| Australian Capital Territory | 69% | 42% | 27% | 28% | $347,000 | 16% |
| Australia (national) | 66% | 35% | 31% | 30.6% | $275,000 | 16% |
Cost as a percentage of income refers to housing costs, including mortgage repayments, rates and body corporate fees, as a share of gross weekly household income. Median mortgage refers to outstanding debt among households with a mortgage. Source: ABS Housing Occupancy and Costs, 2019–20; ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing for national tenure totals.
- Northern Territory: the NT has the lowest overall ownership rate at 59% and the highest rental rate at 40%, reflecting the large share of public and community housing in remote areas. Among NT owners, 43% still carry a mortgage, and the median debt of $321,000 is the second highest nationally.
- Western Australia: WA had the highest ownership rate at 69.3%, which may partly reflect Perth's historically more affordable land prices and higher proportion of detached housing. However, that gap is narrowing. Perth's median established house transfer price rose from $660,000 in the December quarter 2023 to $1,000,000 in the March quarter 2026, a 52% increase in just over two years.
- Tasmania: Tasmania has a 68% home ownership rate and records the lowest median mortgage debt at $177,000 and the lowest average weekly cost at $346. However, housing costs still represent 15% of gross income, in line with the national average, because lower wages reduce much of the cost advantage.
- ACT: the ACT has a 69% home ownership rate, along with the highest median outstanding mortgage at $347,000 and the highest weekly mortgage cost at $546, reflecting Canberra's high property values and above-average incomes among government-sector households.
- Queensland and NSW: both sit at 64% ownership and share the lowest ownership rates among the mainland states. NSW also has the highest share of renters at 33% and the highest mortgage cost as a share of income at 17%.
Section 06
AffordabilityHow affordable is it to buy a home in Australia?
Saving a deposit can take decades in every capital city, but the timeframe depends heavily on where a household is buying. Based on one full-time income, the March quarter 2026 household saving ratio of 6.2% and a 20% deposit, the time needed to save ranges from around 23 years in Darwin to close to 43 years in Sydney.
The household saving ratio has moved between roughly 6% and 7% over the past year and sat at 6.2% in the March quarter 2026, down from 7.0% in the December quarter 2025. A lower saving rate lengthens the estimate because less income is assumed to be saved each year. Capital-city house prices also remained high relative to full-time earnings in early 2026, keeping deposit-saving timelines long across every capital.
Source: ABS dwelling price data (6432.0, March 2026), ABS average weekly earnings (6302.0, November 2025), ABS National Accounts saving ratio (March 2026).
Government programmes, including the First Home Guarantee, shared equity schemes and state-based stamp duty concessions, are designed to reduce upfront costs for eligible buyers. However, the deposit estimates show that high house prices relative to full-time earnings remain a major affordability barrier across every capital city.
References
- ABS: Housing, Census, 2021, housing tenure and dwelling data from the 2021 Census.
- ABS: Housing Occupancy and Costs, 2019–20, housing costs, tenure and mortgage cost data.
- AIHW: Home ownership and housing tenure, home ownership and housing tenure trends.
- ABS: Lending Indicators, March quarter 2026, new housing loan commitments and average loan size data.
- ABS: Total Value of Dwellings, March quarter 2026, dwelling values, mean dwelling prices and residential property data.
- ABS: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, March quarter 2026, household income and national accounts data.
- ABS: Average Weekly Earnings, Australia, November 2025, average weekly earnings and wage data.
- RBA: Housing Lending Rates, Table F6, owner-occupier and investor housing lending rates.
Data Snapshots
