With home ownership rates falling, especially among younger and poorer cohorts, CoreLogic’s head of Australian research, Eliza Owen, has raised concern that the retirement system is unprepared for a future where a large proportion of Australians rent:
“[If you consider] policies that preserved high values of homes in order to secure Australian wealth, you have to accept that what comes with that is declining homeownership for people in lower-income cohorts,” Ms Owen told Parliament’s inquiry into housing supply and affordability.
“And if that’s the case, how do you ensure their retirement? How do you ensure their long-term financial security? A few people have used the word ‘holistic’ in the course of this inquiry. And I think that also includes things like alternatives to building wealth if you’re going to say to a cohort of people: ‘You’ll never be able to own a home’”…
