A rising number of non-home owner Australians are increasingly stepping away from the market, while a sizeable share remain stuck on the sidelines.
Agile Market Intelligence’s latest Consumer Pulse survey of non‑home owners has revealed that intentions to buy in the next year have softened considerably, while the proportion who said they had no plans to ever purchase a home climbed to fresh highs.
More non‑owners moving from not yet to never
The survey uncovered that 40 per cent of Australians who are yet to own a home now reported no plans to buy whatsoever – an increase of 3 percentage points since last quarter and 10 percentage points since March 2025.
Only 13 per cent of respondents said they were planning to purchase within the next 12 months, down from 15 per cent in the December quarter.
Agile said the shift marked a clear deterioration in sentiment around first‑time ownership.
Despite the pullback, almost half of non‑owners are still attempting to find a way into the increasingly competitive market.
A combined 46 per cent said they wished to buy but that they were not financially prepared or believed interest rates and property prices were astronomical.
Agile said the group was evidence that aspiration remained robust, yet was being worn down by affordability barriers.
Older renters increasingly abandoning the goal
The findings also pointed to a noticeable generational divide in how non‑owners viewed their prospects.
The share of non‑home owners aged 35–54 who said they had abandoned buying completely jumped to 40 per cent, up 7 per cent since the previous reading.
Meanwhile, for those aged 55 and over, the proportion with no plans to purchase climbed to 74 per cent, up 2 per cent.
At the same time, the pool of people intending to buy in the next year contracted across all age brackets.
Younger Australians remain the most active cohort, with 19 per cent of those aged 18–34 planning to purchase within 12 months, yet that figure is down 2 per cent quarter on quarter.
Among those aged 35–54, 15 per cent intend to buy, also 2 per cent lower than late 2025.
Michael Johnson, director of Agile Market Intelligence, said the age‑based results underlined how a long stretch of rising prices and higher borrowing costs had changed expectations about what was realistic.
“The latest data clearly shows that home ownership is becoming less attainable for many Australians,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that the step‑back was visible across the entire age spectrum, even among the group that had historically driven first home buyer activity.
“Even younger Australians, who remain the most likely to buy, are pulling away, while older age groups are increasingly stepping away from the market,” he said.
State‑level sentiment reveals sharp ‘divergences’
Beneath the national totals, the survey pointed to meaningful differences between states in how non‑owners assessed their chances of buying.
In NSW, only 13 per cent of respondents said they intended to purchase a home in the next 12 months, down 5 per cent from last quarter.
Queensland stood out as the state with the highest proportion of non‑home owners giving up altogether, with 44 per cent saying they had no plans to purchase.
Other states were shaped less by outright desertion and more by would‑be buyers feeling locked out by current conditions.
In South Australia and Western Australia, the largest shift since late 2025 has come from respondents who said they still wanted to purchase but believed interest rates or home prices were insurmountable obstacles.
Victoria showed a mix of both patterns, with 16 per cent planning to buy this year, a fall of 4 per cent, while 34 per cent now reported no plans to purchase, up 2 percentage points.
Johnson said the results highlighted the different ways affordability pressures were playing out across the country.
“State‑level data shows clear divergences in home ownership sentiment,” he said.
[Related: Borrower optimism fades as hike weighs on households]
