3.6 million Australians stuck renting for life

One in five Aussies believe will never be able to afford their own home and will be stuck renting for life.

Clearly housing affordability remains a high hurdle for many Australian household as research released by finder.com.au found that 3.6  million renters believe they may be renting for the rest of their life”.

The survey of more than 2,000 Australians found that while the majority (57%) of Australians were already living in their own home, a substantial proportion (43%) were renting.

Despite modest gains in national weekly family incomes and the fact that our property markets are now flatlining, housing affordability across Australia remains burdensome.

That’s why 47% of those surveyed (this equates to 3.6 million renters) said they would consider renting for a lifetime if house prices keep rising.

Some more details

The survey results found men (55%) are more open to the idea of renting for life than women (40%) and females are more likely (54%) to be saving money for a home deposit than their male 

Finder.com.au suggests this isn't surprising, considering new research shows women are closing the gap on retirement funds.

There were also slightly more men "rentvesting" - renting while owning a property - than women (6%).

Breaking the results down state-by-state, Queensland (4.2%) has the highest proportion of rentvesters, followed by NSW (3.4%) and Victoria (2.4%).

Queenslanders are also the most content renters, with almost a quarter (24.6%) of renters considering renting for life.

WA renters were least inclined (15.1%) to rent for life.

Residents of South Australia are the most prolific home owners (69.4%), followed by Tasmanians (63.9%).

NSW has the greatest proportion (21.1%) of renters saving for a home loan deposit.

When it comes to housing affordability, Gen Y has it in for Baby Boomers and vice versa.

Interestingly, more than three quarters of baby boomers (78%) believe they'll be renters for life, compared with more than half of Generation X (53%) and just a third of Generation Y (33%).

About Kate Forbes Kate Forbes is a National Director at Metropole assisting our high net worth clients safely grow, protect and pass on their wealth. She has 25 years of investment experience in financial markets on two continents, is qualified in multiple disciplines, and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).