The Australian residential property scene has been experiencing somewhat of a dilemma for a little while now – while property ownership continues to rate highly as one of the great Australian pursuits, housing supply and affordability constraints have been dampening that dream for many Australians and certainly making it more difficult to achieve.
However, according to the findings of a recent study of Australian values by Ipsos Mackay entitled 'Being Australian', it appears that despite affordability constraints, Australians continue to highly prioritise home ownership, just in a smaller way.
Combating their lack of affordability, many people are moving to downsize their property dreams with a large number choosing to purchase smaller dwellings such as apartments and townhouses.
According to an article by Andrew West in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled 'Australian dream now means flat or townhouse'(June 27, 2011), the study will have "implications for urban planning because it undermines the assumption that Australians want large houses on individual blocks on large estates."
The SMH article shared the findings of the Ipsos Mackay Report which concluded that "the dream of owning your own home persists in 2011 and Australians continued to believe that, one way or another, the dream will be realised."
West also ascertained that the study is in agreement with the findings of another recently released report, 'The Housing We'd Choose', from the Grattan Institute, which looks at the disparity between the housing options that exist in Sydney and Melbourne, and the housing choices and trade-offs that people would make if they could.
The report tries to ascertain whether or not Australia is building the right types of property for our future needs and reaches the conclusion that "if new construction is to shape our cities in accordance with our housing preferences, it must be significantly different from the mix of housing we have accumulated over the past few decades."
It will be interesting to see how the findings of both of these reports, along with the preferences of buyers becoming more pronounced, will affect the property market and the direction of development and government policy over coming years.