PHOTO: Younger people are less likely to be home owners by 2040, new research has found. Photo: Marilyn Nieves

Home ownership in Australia is on the decline and likely to worsen but it’s not just housing affordability responsible for the shrinking numbers, new research shows.

Rather, it’s the increasing incidence of unstable, casual work with no guarantee of pay, and a growth in property investors that have seen a shift in the market where more Australians are now facing a future of living in long-term rentals.

Australian home ownership: past reflections, future directions, released on Thursday, has predicted that by 2040, those aged 25 to 55 will have only a 51 per cent chance of owning their own home – down from 60 per cent in 1981. 

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Overall, home ownership will fall to 63 per cent, down from 67 per cent in 2016, the research found. This was significant, the report said, as home ownership had remained mostly stable since the 1970s.

Swinburne University of Technology undertook the research on behalf of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Lead researcher Professor Terry Burke said home ownership had been on the decline as the workforce became more casual.

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