What about property investment rates?

December 10, 2025

Keating states that “population growth has been no faster in the last six years than previously over the last several decades, so the pressure of demand for new dwellings is no higher than we were readily able to accommodate in the past.”

This ignores the fantastic growth in property investment rates (a demand side issue). In the 1999-2000 FY there were 1.16 million Australians who owned at least one investment property. By 2021-22 that number had doubled to 2.26 million, far outstripping the population growth rate.

A recent AIHW report supports this, stating:

Over the past two decades, the Australian residential property market has experienced a sharp rise in investor activity (ATO 2024b). While the investment market has expanded the availability of rental housing, it has also reduced the number of homes available to owner-occupiers. As a result, many aspiring first-time buyers face greater competition, making it more likely they will remain in the rental market.