What is home ownership?

Home ownership in Australia is the holding of an interest in residential property, either as freehold (ownership of the land and any building on it) or as strata title (ownership of an apartment or townhouse together with a share in common property). About 66 per cent of Australian households owned their home with or without a mortgage as of the 2021 Census, down from about 70 per cent at the 1990 peak.

Buying a home in Australia involves several distinct steps. Most buyers save a deposit (often 20 per cent of the purchase price to avoid lenders mortgage insurance, although smaller deposits with LMI are common), arrange pre-approval for a home loan from a bank or mortgage broker, search for a property, make an offer (or bid at auction), engage a conveyancer or solicitor to manage the legal transfer of title, exchange contracts (usually with a 5 to 10 per cent deposit), and settle the purchase about six to twelve weeks later. State governments charge stamp duty on the transfer.

Several federal and state schemes help first home buyers. The First Home Guarantee allows eligible first-time buyers to purchase with as little as a 5 per cent deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance, with the federal government guaranteeing up to 15 per cent of the loan to the lender. The First Home Super Saver Scheme allows first-time buyers to make voluntary super contributions of up to 50,000 dollars (across multiple years) and withdraw them, with deemed earnings, to use as a deposit. Most states also offer First Home Owner Grants of around 10,000 to 15,000 dollars for newly built homes, plus stamp duty concessions or exemptions for first-time buyers below set price thresholds.

Home ownership has long been described as the Great Australian Dream, supported by historic policies including high immigration into outer-suburban housing, post-war War Service Homes loans, and tax settings such as the capital gains tax exemption on a primary residence. Affordability has worsened in capital cities since the 1980s. The median Sydney house price passed 1.5 million dollars in 2024 and Melbourne passed 1 million dollars, raising deposit requirements for first-time buyers and pushing ownership rates lower among under-35s.