More Property Insights from the Census

The official release of the 2016 Census data was on Tuesday, 27 June 2017.  We released a brief summary in this article on June 29.

Since then further analysis has been conducted and thanks to the Commonwealth Bank we have the table below to get further insight into population, income and dwelling statistics.

Housing Data June 2017

(Source: Commonwealth Bank)

Upon review of this data, here are some points of note:

  • population growth is quickest in the Eastern States, especially in Victoria where it grew at 2.4% last year
  • house prices have increased most in those states and territories where population is growing the fastest
  • 7.2% of mortgage holders and 11.5% of renters were paying over 30% of their pre-tax income to live in their property (over 30% is considered “housing stress”)

Since our first census summary we have identified additional population insights that will impact property markets, the key takeaways are:

Population Growth is Strong

Australia’s 2016 annual population growth rate was 1.553%, as of December 2016 Australia’s population was 24,385,625 people (up by 372,805).  Victoria had the highest population growth 19.4% above its decade average.  The growth in each state or territory was:

  • Victoria (2.40%),
  • ACT (1.71%),
  • NSW (1.52%),
  • Queensland (1.46%),
  • Western Australia (0.66%),
  • South Australia (0.61%),
  • Tasmania (0.58%) and
  • The Northern Territory (0.26%).

The Majority of Population Growth is Immigration

Australia remains one of the most attractive destinations in the world for migrants with a trend toward younger migrants coming largely from Asia, especially China and India.

  • Between 2011 and 2016, migration accounted for 55% of Australia’s population growth
  • 26% of Australian residents are born overseas compared to 13% in the UK, 14% in the US, 22% in Canada and 23% in New Zealand.
  • 209,000 people migrated to Australia in 2016.
  • NSW (40.6%) and Victoria (35.4%) combined accounted for 76.0% of net overseas migration.
Australian Net Migration 2016

The top five places of birth are:

  1. Australia (66.7%, down from 69.8% in 2011),
  2. England (3.9%, down from 4.2%),
  3. New Zealand (steady at 2.2%)
  4. China (2.2%, up from 1.5%) and
  5. India (1.9%, up from 1.4%)

East Coast Cities Most Popular

More than two thirds of Australians live in a capital city and 80% of them in either Queensland, New South Wales Victoria or the ACT.

  • Sydney remains Australia’s biggest city with 4.8 million residents, up 9.8% since 2011.
  • Melbourne is the fastest growing capital with 4.4 million residents up 12.1% since 2011.

Australian residential properties have an average of 2.6 residents, based on annual population growth of 372,805 – an additional 143,386 properties will be required each year.  With that demand expected to be maintained the property market will provide opportunity for investors but they need to be careful.

Not all areas and properties will perform at the same level, if you are considering investing in property, speak to a UGC adviser to assist you.  UGC have the experience, research and expertise to ensure you make the right decision.

The information contained in this article is General in nature and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. When assessing any investment you should also consider that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

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