New modelling has revealed that owner‑occupier rates have barely shifted since 2021, masking stark state‑by‑state divides.
Australia’s home ownership landscape has barely changed in headline terms over the past four years, according to new KPMG analysis, which has shown owner‑occupier rates holding steady outside NSW even as affordability pressures mount.
KPMG estimates that nearly 600,000 households became owner‑occupiers between 2021 and 2025, up from about 490,000 over the previous four‑year period.
Yet despite that surge in new owners, the proportion of households living in a home they own slipped at the national level, from 66.3 per cent in 2021 to 65.9 per cent in 2025.
The consultancy firm said that once NSW was removed from the calculation, the owner‑occupier rate across the rest of the country was “roughly unchanged” over the period.
WA and Qld edge higher on ownership
The largest gains in the latest figures were in Western Australia and Queensland, where the share of Australians living in homes they own nudged higher over the four‑year window.
Queensland’s owner‑occupier rate rose from 63.9 per cent in 2021 to 64.9 per cent in 2025, while Western Australia moved from 69.2 per cent to 69.9 per cent over the same period – Victoria held steady at 68.7 per cent.
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said the pandemic years provided those two states with a mix of market conditions that favoured aspiring buyers.
“Western Australia and Queensland offered a rare combination during the pandemic: relatively affordable homes, ultra‑low borrowing costs and the flexibility for people to work from almost anywhere,” Rawnsley said.
“As a result, people may have sold their homes in those states or taken advantage of cheaper housing to enter the property market when they otherwise could not have afforded to do so in somewhere like Sydney.”
Rawnsley said these shifts underlined how price and borrowing‑cost differentials could reshape where owner‑occupier households were concentrated across the country.
Sydney drags national rate to 70‑year low
By contrast, NSW – and Sydney in particular – has gone backwards on home ownership over the four years.
KPMG’s analysis showed Greater Sydney’s owner‑occupier rate fell from 61.1 per cent in 2021 to 59.9 per cent in 2025.
“Sydney has gone backwards on home ownership by more than half a century,” Rawnsley said.
“The city probably has not seen ownership rates this low since the late 1950s, which shows just how far affordability has moved against households trying to buy where they live.”
Melbourne, meanwhile, managed to hold the line on ownership.
“The owner‑occupiers rate in Melbourne held steady as stable housing supply, particularly in Melbourne’s greenfield growth areas, was available at price points accessible to first home buyers,” Rawnsley said.
Pipeline points to future support for buyers
Even with national ownership rates in 2025 still “sharply lower” than two decades ago, KPMG’s analysis pointed to some emerging bright spots for first home buyers (FHBs).
It said that ABS Building Activity data showed that the number of dwellings under construction reached a record 243,900 in the March quarter, up from 220,300 a year earlier, while recent lending indicators revealed that loans to FHBs rose from 117,200 to 120,500 in the year to March 2025.
“In addition to boosting housing supply, levelling the playing field for first home buyers and supporting their to access home ownership sooner are really important reforms,” Rawnsley said.
He said that, despite mounting pressures, household behaviour and policy measures were still keeping the home ownership aspiration alive.
“The dream of owning a home is far from dead. 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,” Rawnsley said.
[Related: Australians lean harder on credit as repayment strain deepens]
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