Housing crisis: Australia adding one person every 47 seconds

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On Thursday, Domain released analysis showing that Australia will need to add 497,984 dwellings to Australia’s housing stock to accommodate the 1,235,000 projected net overseas migrants projected to arrive in Australia over the four years to 2025-26:

Dwellings needed

That equates to 341 new homes required every day for four years!

In reality, Australia would need to build more than this level to account for homes lost through demolition.

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Interestingly, the ABS’ population clock shows that Australia is currently growing by one person every 47 seconds, driven by one person arriving to live in Australia every 42 seconds via the Albanese Government’s extreme immigration program:

ABS population clock

Blind Freddy can see that the chances of Australia adding enough homes to meet this extreme population growth are slim, given construction rates are falling amid widespread builder failures and skyrocketing material and financing costs:

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Dwelling completions versus population change

At this month’s Senate Estimates hearing, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy stated that the reduction in building approvals is projected to continue until 2025, with investment in new dwellings expected to fall by 2.5% this year, 3.5% in 2023-24, and 1.5% in 2024-25.

Running an excessive immigration policy in the midst of a housing crisis is policy insanity.

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Anthony Albanese should be ashamed of himself for throwing vulnerable Australian households onto the streets.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.