06 November 2009
New Australian Bureau of Statistics figures have revealed that home ownership levels in Sydney have plummeted over the last seven years.
The Urban Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said that Sydneys level of home ownership was lower than every Australian capital city, bar Darwin.
Were now seeing the harsh social impacts of a lack of new home development, Mr Gadiel said.
In the 1990s, work started on 44,000 new private homes in NSW each year, but in this decade, work has started on an average of only 36,000 new private homes a year.
Last year, work started on only 23,000 homes.
Mr Gadiel said that less Sydneysiders have been able to own their own home, while the reverse has been true in Brisbane.
From its much lower population base, in Queensland, work has started on an average of 37,000 new homes each year this decade.
On a per capita-basis, Queensland has been producing new homes at more than twice the rate of NSW.
As a result, less Brisbane residents are forced to rent, while the reverse is true in Sydney.
All levels of government need to work together to boost the rate of new home development in Sydney.
Otherwise the social costs higher rents and more tenuous living arrangements for families – will be too high to bear.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
For every $1 million in construction expenditure, 27 jobs are created throughout the broader economy. The construction activity made possible by property developers contributes $78 billion to the national economy each year and creates 849,000 direct jobs.
The PDF below includes data below showing the level of home ownership rates and the level of rental for each the capital cities in 2000/2001 and in 2007/2008.
