2016 Quick Census Focus on Dwellings, Rent and Mortgages

Published Thursday, 2nd August, 2018 | By Susan AKA Peacefull

This is an interesting overview of dwellings (housing) in Australia. It shows interesting data on rentals, home ownership and family/single status. It seems single households are one quarter or one in four (24.4%) of all households. I find that interesting and noteworthy as a changing demographic and felt poverty, particularly for those on incomes below the poverty line.

Summary of interesting statistics (apologies formatting it is in a box format pasted in):

Median weekly household income	$1,438 compared to New Start Centrelink (approx $449 weekly)

Median monthly mortgage repayments	$1,755 ($438 weekly)
Median weekly rent	$335 (2 people $167 each)

Single (or lone) person households	(Aust) 2,023,542 persons	(24.4%)	(2011) 1,888,697	(24.3%)
Group households	(Aust) 354,917	(4.3%)	(2011) 321,005	(4.1%)

I am estimating a 2 bedroom dwelling comparison. Note there is a $103 gap between weekly median mortgage and rent payments (people on median mortgages pay $103 more ). For a person paying $438 per week mortgage as a ratio of median household income, this cost is 30%. If we use say $449 (Centrelink figures, I regard this as with rent assistance) after paying a median rent of $335 would leave $114 which is 74% of income/rent ratio. A person on Centrelink couldn’t afford the median rent, it would be likely to be half this. There are few to no homes $150-$170 per week. This is the key problem.

Yet the gap in weekly household income compared to a Centrelink payment (single person) is $989 per week. This is a very big difference and reflects the equity gap, if all people are equal. In economics we often say “all things being equal”, I feel to amend that to “all people being equal” perhaps this is how we factor in the social economic real cost. I’d have to think about it.

The challenge for society is how to make income and rent/mortgages equitable for society given more people are living alone, families are breaking up and communities fragmenting. I am comparing with single people as that is a increasing household status. It is noted that weekly household is approximately 2 people. However, costs decline when there are more people if they are sharing bills.

The data would need more interrogating. I am being cautious. However, it should be noted even with Census data much depends on the accuracy of what people share with the ABS, what they understand and whether they feel nervous about giving the government their data. However, it may have a smaller standard error of the estimate given the size of the data set.

2016 Census QuickStats

Australia

Code 0 (AUST)Search for a Community Profile

People	23,401,892
Male	49.3%
Female	50.7%
Median age	38

Families	6,070,316
Average children per family
for families with children	1.8
for all families	0.8

All private dwellings	9,901,496
Average people per household	2.6
Median weekly household income	$1,438
Median monthly mortgage repayments	$1,755
Median weekly rent	$335
Average motor vehicles per dwelling	1.8

ExpandDwellingscategory,

includes dwelling structure household composition mortgage & rent number of motor vehicles

Dwellings — dwelling structure

dwelling structure household composition mortgage & rent number of motor vehicles

Dwelling tables exclude visitor only and other non-classifiable households

Dwelling count	Australia	%	2011	%
Occupied private dwellings	8,286,073	88.8	7,760,314	89.3
Unoccupied private dwellings	1,039,874	11.2	934,471	10.7

In Australia, 88.8% of private dwellings were occupied and 11.2% were unoccupied.

View the data quality statements for: Dwelling type (DWTD) Dwelling Structure (STRD)

Dwelling structure Occupied private dwellings	Australia	%	2011	%
Separate house	6,041,788	72.9	5,864,573	75.6
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc	1,055,016	12.7	765,980	9.9
Flat or apartment	1,087,434	13.1	1,056,236	13.6
Other dwelling	64,425	0.8	66,662	0.9

Of occupied private dwellings in Australia, 72.9% were separate houses, 12.7% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 13.1% were flats or apartments and 0.8% were other dwellings.

View the data quality statement for Dwelling structure (STRD)

Number of bedrooms Occupied private dwellings	Australia	%	2011	%
None (includes bedsitters)	39,769	0.5	42,160	0.5
1 bedroom	411,252	5.0	363,129	4.7
2 bedrooms	1,562,759	18.9	1,481,577	19.1
3 bedrooms	3,403,190	41.1	3,379,930	43.6
4 or more bedrooms	2,670,758	32.2	2,350,132	30.3
Number of bedrooms not stated	198,351	2.4	143,394	1.8
Average number of bedrooms per dwelling	3.1	—	3.1	—
Average number of people per household	2.6	—	2.6	—

In Australia, of occupied private dwellings 5.0% had 1 bedroom, 18.9% had 2 bedrooms and 41.1% had 3 bedrooms. The average number of bedrooms per occupied private dwelling was 3.1. The average household size was 2.6 people.

View the data quality statements for: Number of bedrooms in a private dwelling (BEDD) Number of persons usually resident in dwelling (NPRD)

Tenure Occupied private dwellings	Australia	%	2011	%
Owned outright	2,565,695	31.0	2,488,149	32.1
Owned with a mortgage	2,855,222	34.5	2,709,433	34.9
Rented	2,561,302	30.9	2,297,458	29.6
Other tenure type	78,994	1.0	70,070	0.9
Tenure type not stated	224,869	2.7	195,213	2.5

Of occupied private dwellings in Australia, 31.0% were owned outright, 34.5% were owned with a mortgage and 30.9% were rented.

View the data quality statement for Tenure type (TEND)

Dwellings — household composition

dwelling structure household composition mortgage & rent number of motor vehicles

Household composition	Australia	%	2011	%
Family households	5,907,625	71.3	5,550,611	71.5
Single (or lone) person households	2,023,542	24.4	1,888,697	24.3
Group households	354,917	4.3	321,005	4.1

In Australia, of all households, 71.3% were family households, 24.4% were single person households and 4.3% were group households.

View the data quality statement for Household composition (HHCD)

Household income	Australia	%	2011	%
Less than $650 gross weekly income	—	20.0	—	23.7
More than $3000 gross weekly income	—	16.4	—	11.2

In Australia, 20.0% of households had a weekly household income of less than $650 and 16.4% of households had a weekly income of more than $3000.

View the data quality statement for Household income, total weekly (HIND)

Dwellings — mortgage & rent

dwelling structure household composition mortgage & rent number of motor vehicles

Proportions are calculated using all tenure types for occupied private dwellings. This excludes visitor only and other non-classifiable households.

Rent weekly payments	Australia	%	2011	%
Median rent	335	—	285	—
Households where rent payments are less than 30% of household income	—	88.5	—	89.6
Households with rent payments greater than or equal to 30% of household income	—	11.5	—	10.4

The number of households where rent payments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure are expressed in this table as a proportion of the total number of households in an area (including those households which were not renting, and excluding the small proportion of visitor-only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion.

View the data quality statement for Rent weekly payments (RNTD)

Mortgage monthly repayments	Australia	%	2011	%
Median mortgage repayments	1,755	—	1,800	—
Households where mortgage repayments are less than 30% of household income	—	92.8	—	90.1
Households with mortgage repayments greater than or equal to 30% of household income	—	7.2	—	9.9

The number of households where mortgage repayments were 30% or more of an imputed income measure are expressed in this table as a proportion of the total number of households in an area (including those households which were renting, and excluding the small proportion of visitor only and other non-classifiable households). The nature of the income imputation means that the reported proportion may significantly overstate the true proportion.

View the data quality statement for Mortgage monthly repayments (MRED)

Posted in Mortgages, Rent