{"id":172381,"date":"2023-09-24T15:30:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T05:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/?p=172381"},"modified":"2023-09-19T09:34:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T23:34:11","slug":"the-housing-wealth-gap-between-older-and-younger-australians-has-widened-alarmingly-in-the-past-30-years-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/the-housing-wealth-gap-between-older-and-younger-australians-has-widened-alarmingly-in-the-past-30-years-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"The housing wealth gap between older and younger Australians has widened alarmingly in the past 30 years. Here\u2019s\u00a0why."},"content":{"rendered":"

The housing wealth gap between younger and older Australians is undeniably growing.<\/p>\n

Our recently published study attempts to find out how much it has grown by estimating the gap in the home equity of older people (Australians in their 50s) and younger people (Australians in their 30s) in 1997\u201398 and 2017\u201318.<\/p>\n

\"real-estate<\/p>\n

Adjusted for inflation, we find that in 1997-98 the younger group had mean housing equity of A$97,799 compared to the older group\u2019s $255,323 \u2013 meaning the older group had 161% more equity home equity than the younger group: 2.6 times as much.<\/p>\n

By 2017\u201318 the younger group had mean equity of $140,080 but the older group\u2019s mean equity had increased more to $467,182 \u2013 meaning the older group had 234% more equity than the younger group: 3.3 times as much.<\/p>\n

The housing wealth gap between the old and young had grown from 161% to 234% \u2013 making it almost half as big again.<\/p>\n

The increase in the gap between those we describe as the income-poor young and the income-rich old was even more alarming \u2013 a doubling from 532% to 1230%.<\/p>\n

Two things have widened the divide<\/span><\/h2>\n

Our study draws on the 1997-98 and 2017-18 Bureau of Statistics surveys of income and housing and identifies two forces widening the gap.<\/p>\n

The first relates to home ownership. While ownership rates for both groups have fallen, the decline has been steeper among the young (from 52% to 40%) than the old (80% to 69%).<\/p>\n

The second relates to the different trajectories in the growth of home equity among those who own homes.<\/p>\n

In 1997-98, the average equity in the primary home of owners in the older group was 1.7 times that of owners in the younger group.<\/p>\n

By 2017-18 it was twice that of the younger owners.<\/p>\n

\"Intergenerational<\/p>\n

The increasing ownership gap turns out to have mattered more than the increasing gap in equity among those who do have homes.<\/p>\n

We find that if the ownership gap had not widened, the overall intergenerational housing wealth gap would have been smaller at 200%, rather than 234%.

<\/div><\/p>\n

If the gap in home equity among those who owned homes had not widened, the gap would have been smaller at 215% rather than 234%.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just age \u2013 there are other divides<\/span><\/h2>\n

Housing inequality exists across other divides.<\/p>\n

In the table below we identify gaps across gender, location and income divide:<\/p>\n