CoreLogic’s research analyst, Cameron Kusher, has released data showing that the average number of years that Australians hold onto their properties has ballooned to an all-time high:
The latest data to May 2019 shows that home owners are holding onto their property for much longer than they were 10 to 15 years ago. The average hold period has consistently increased since 2005 across both house and units nationally. The average hold period figure is based on sales from the past year, using the latest sold date and the previous sold date to establish how many years a property has been held for between each transaction. Nationally, the average length of home ownership currently sits at 11.3 years for houses and 9.6 years for units, this is an increase of 3.8 years for houses and 2.9 years for units over the past 10 years.
Across the individual capital cities, the average hold period of both houses and units has risen over the last 10 years, 5 years and year, with houses on average being held longer relative to units across all capital cities. Over the last year, houses in Melbourne recorded the longest period of ownership at an average of 12.5 years, while Perth came in with the longest average hold period of 10.8 years for units. At the opposite end of the spectrum, houses in Darwin are typically being held for 9.2 years and Canberra units on average 8.7 years; the shortest average hold period across the capital cities.
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Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
