Homeownership at lowest level in half a century
Home ownership in Sydney has plunged to levels not seen since the 1950s.
AUSTRALIA’S HOUSING crisis has officially plunged Sydney into a historic time warp, with homeownership rates falling to their lowest levels since the late 1950s.
New analysis from KPMG Australia shows that the Harbour City has completely decoupled from the rest of the nation, effectively erasing more than 60 years of housing progress as skyrocketing prices and affordability constraints shut out an entire generation of younger buyers.
The bombshell data reveals Sydney’s owner-occupier rate has plummeted to a dismal 59.9 per cent, down sharply from 61.1 per cent in 2021.
KPMG Urban Economist Terry Rawnsley says the depth of Sydney’s slump is historic.
“Sydney has gone backwards on home ownership by more than half a century, which shows just how far affordability has moved against households trying to buy where they live,” he said. “During that post-war boom, all those suburban suburbs across Sydney were being built. First home buyers were being courted to get into the housing market because people didn’t want to have the problems we had during the Great Depression. “You had the situation where you could live in a two-bedroom fibro house, get in your FJ Holden, and drive to the factory 10 minutes away and your world revolved around that home ownership being the central point of it.”
While Sydney cratered, the story across the rest of Australia looks vastly different, exposing a massive geographical divide.
Nationally, the overall proportion of owner-occupiers dropped slightly from 66.3 per cent in 2021 down to 65.9 per cent.
When you strip NSW out of the data altogether, the homeownership rate across the rest of Australia remained roughly unchanged between 2021 and 2025.
Frustrated buyers are turning their backs on Sydney’s multimillion-dollar median prices, instead using remote work flexibility to chase the great Australian dream interstate.
Queensland and Western Australia have emerged as the biggest winners of this interstate migration. In Queensland, the proportion of owner-occupiers lifted from 63.9 per cent in 2021 to 64.9 per cent.
Despite Sydney’s depressing reality check, experts insist the dream of owning a home is far from dead, though it has clearly migrated.
There are positive signs for home ownership, according to the data. The number of dwellings under construction reached a record 243,900 in the March quarter, up from 220,300 a year earlier.
And despite rising interest rates, the number of loans issued to first-home buyers increased from 117,200 in the year to March 2025, to 120,500 in the year to March 2025, recent ABS data showed.
“The dream of owning a home is far from dead,” Mr Rawnsley said. “Australians are adapting, relocating and working hard to get into the market, and the combination of more housing supply and targeted support is creating a pathway to home ownership for more households.”
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