Is this the end of the backyard?

As reported on realestate.com there is a seismic shift in the housing market in Australia.

While earlier generations had big families and wanted homes that reflected this, there is a shift to units and smaller homes.

This could be down to the falling number of people living in houses.  As quoted in the realestate.com article, the ABS reported that in 1920 there were 4.6 people per household on average, which fell to 3.6 by 1961.  As of 2023 this figure was estimated at 2.5 people per household.

This could be attributed to the fact that Australians are living long and having fewer children and single person households becoming increasingly more common.  The censuses in 1981 and 2021 show that single person households have increased from 18% to 26%.  Over the same period family households have decreased from 78% to 70.5%, and within the family category, couple-only households have increased from 29% to 39%.

The figures indicate that the number of DINKs (double income no kids) are in the increase.  This lifestyle probably tends itself to spend more time out of the home and for the house to be a unit or townhouse instead of the conventional house and yard.

The graphs in the graphics seem to suggest that there is an oversupply of 4+ bedroom homes and an undersupply of smaller homes and units.

This trend does not seem to be the case in the Lockyer Valley with the more traditional family home still in high demand.

It might be that there is a divide between City Buyers and Country Buyers and only time will tell in this trend continues and expands into the country.