Invest
Surprising new housing trends spike with older Australians
It’s not just first home buyers who are feeling the pinch with housing affordability, older Australians are also changing their living arrangements to deal with the rising cost of owning a home.
Surprising new housing trends spike with older Australians
It’s not just first home buyers who are feeling the pinch with housing affordability, older Australians are also changing their living arrangements to deal with the rising cost of owning a home.
Professor Heather Macdonald from the University of Technology Sydney said the instances of older Australians in co-living arrangements is on the rise, in response to the rising cost of housing in Australia’s capital cities.
The concept of co-living amongst older Australians isn’t new globally, with many foreign countries using it as a way to deal with an ageing population.
Countries such as Japan and Finland have used it as a way to cope with lack of government resources to fund caring for the elderly. In Finland, the system operates to benefit both parties: young people are offered cheap rent also.
“I think there is real potential for co-living when there is social basis for relationships. Interesting examples coming out of Scandinavia with elderly people, where co-living has become an alternative to the more commercialised assisted living. So co-living has some good potential there, with of course studies, and young adults have been doing it for ages with various degrees of success,” said Professor Macdonald.
Mark Steinert, managing director and CEO of Stocklands, added: “Co-living is really exciting; it is an area with customer demand. The biggest challenge as usual being planning; it’s very difficult to get approval for mixed use.”
The Australian government has initiated programs that have a share-housing basis. For example, there is the Better Together program, which helps single women over the age of 55 find shared accommodation. In NSW, icare gives foundation funding to help the elderly and disabled people find youth support in return for cheaper rent.
RELATED ARTICLES
About the author
About the author
Property
Australian property’s quiet pivot: resilience hides a new competitive map
Australia’s housing market remains sturdier than the macro noise suggests, but the sources of resilience have shifted. For operators, the profit pool is migrating from ‘volume at any price’ to ...Read more
Property
Gen Z’s 5% deposit rush: how policy‑driven demand is reshaping Australia’s housing value chain
A government-backed 5% deposit guarantee has triggered a surge in first-home buyer intent among Gen Z, pulling forward demand and resetting competition across banks, brokers and buildersRead more
Property
Cautious bidders, smarter sellers: a Queensland auction case study on repricing risk
Queensland’s auction market has hit a caution cycle as buyers price in higher borrowing costs, global uncertainty and cost-of-living pressure. Clearance softness is forcing agencies to re-engineer ...Read more
Property
Trust, technology and triage: what NSW’s ‘name and shame’ signals for real estate governance
NSW’s latest enforcement action on real estate trust accounts isn’t a one-off embarrassment; it’s a stress test of sector governance. With licences suspended and penalties applied, the message is ...Read more
Property
Vacancy is rising, demand is resilient: A case study in defending yield as Australia’s rental cycle rebalances
After a blistering run, Australia’s rental market is loosening at the edges. Vacancy is edging up off historic lows, rent inflation is set to moderate into 2026, yet underlying demand remains ...Read more
Property
Don’t lose the deposit: A case study in stopping real estate payment fraud — and the ROI for doing it
Deposit redirection scams are quietly eroding buyer savings and agency reputations in Australia’s property market. This case study unpacks how a mid-tier real estate group redesigned its settlement ...Read more
Property
The $12m threshold: Why portfolio value, not property count, now defines Australia’s investor elite
The old yardstick of six properties as shorthand for investment success has been overtaken by a harsher reality: in today’s market, elite status is defined by balance-sheet strength, not asset countRead more
Property
From intuition to instrumentation: How a "two-stakeholder" sales playbook lifted close rates and cut cycle times
High-stakes consumer purchases are increasingly joint decisions. When one partner is under-served, deals stall. This case study follows an Australian real estate group that rebuilt its sales motion ...Read more
Property
Australian property’s quiet pivot: resilience hides a new competitive map
Australia’s housing market remains sturdier than the macro noise suggests, but the sources of resilience have shifted. For operators, the profit pool is migrating from ‘volume at any price’ to ...Read more
Property
Gen Z’s 5% deposit rush: how policy‑driven demand is reshaping Australia’s housing value chain
A government-backed 5% deposit guarantee has triggered a surge in first-home buyer intent among Gen Z, pulling forward demand and resetting competition across banks, brokers and buildersRead more
Property
Cautious bidders, smarter sellers: a Queensland auction case study on repricing risk
Queensland’s auction market has hit a caution cycle as buyers price in higher borrowing costs, global uncertainty and cost-of-living pressure. Clearance softness is forcing agencies to re-engineer ...Read more
Property
Trust, technology and triage: what NSW’s ‘name and shame’ signals for real estate governance
NSW’s latest enforcement action on real estate trust accounts isn’t a one-off embarrassment; it’s a stress test of sector governance. With licences suspended and penalties applied, the message is ...Read more
Property
Vacancy is rising, demand is resilient: A case study in defending yield as Australia’s rental cycle rebalances
After a blistering run, Australia’s rental market is loosening at the edges. Vacancy is edging up off historic lows, rent inflation is set to moderate into 2026, yet underlying demand remains ...Read more
Property
Don’t lose the deposit: A case study in stopping real estate payment fraud — and the ROI for doing it
Deposit redirection scams are quietly eroding buyer savings and agency reputations in Australia’s property market. This case study unpacks how a mid-tier real estate group redesigned its settlement ...Read more
Property
The $12m threshold: Why portfolio value, not property count, now defines Australia’s investor elite
The old yardstick of six properties as shorthand for investment success has been overtaken by a harsher reality: in today’s market, elite status is defined by balance-sheet strength, not asset countRead more
Property
From intuition to instrumentation: How a "two-stakeholder" sales playbook lifted close rates and cut cycle times
High-stakes consumer purchases are increasingly joint decisions. When one partner is under-served, deals stall. This case study follows an Australian real estate group that rebuilt its sales motion ...Read more
