Record demand is keeping pressure on housing supply and making it harder for home buyers to enter the market.
ABS data shows that in the 12 months to March 2026, net permanent and long-term overseas arrivals reached 489,300, while net new housing supply added just 174,500 dwellings.
The gap is compounded by a construction sector that is building less than it did a decade ago. Net new housing supply in the 12 months to March 2026 was 14.6 per cent lower than the same period in 2016, while net migrant arrivals over the same ten years increased by nearly 97 per cent.
According to IPA, residential vacancy rates sit at just 1.2 per cent, the average Australian home price exceeded $1 million for the first time in late 2024, and the median age of first home buyers has risen from 24.5 in 2000 to 34.5 in 2022.