Australia is running out of homes. Not in some distant, theoretical sense — right now, today, the numbers tell a story of a system under severe and worsening strain.
In the first year of the National Housing Accord, Australia completed roughly 174,000 new dwellings against a target of 240,000 — a shortfall of 66,000 homes in a single year. The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council projects a cumulative gap of 262,000 homes over the full five-year Accord period. The average home now costs more than eight times the median household income. It takes the average Australian 10.6 years to save a deposit. Only 12% of the housing stock is affordable for a first-home buyer on an average income — down from 30% just five years ago.
Renters are faring no better. Over the past five years, rents have risen 43.9% while wages have grown just 17.5%. Vacancy rates hover near record lows. More than 122,000 Australians are homeless tonight.
And then there is the immigration dimension. At the post-COVID peak of 518,000 net arrivals in 2022–23, migration alone generated demand for more new homes than the entire construction industry could produce in a year. There has been no formal link between immigration policy and housing capacity — and that absence has cost us dearly.
The good news is that this is a solvable problem. Our new analysis — backed by 33 data points, four interactive charts, and a fully searchable statistics database — sets out a clear, evidence-based 5-year plan. Five pillars: planning reform and upzoning, rebuilding construction capacity, calibrating immigration to housing supply, doubling investment in social housing, and immediate renter relief.
The crisis is real. The path forward is mapped. [Explore the full interactive report and data explorer.