Demand for studio and one-bedroom units to increase as Australians go it alone
More Australians are now opting to live alone, pushing up demand for one-bedroom and studio apartments.
Census 2011 data shows there are now 1,888 million lone-person households, 148,000 more than there were in the 2006 census.
The census data also shows there are also 50,000 more one-bedroom apartments than there were in 2006, with numbers rising from 317,000 to 363,000.
Proportionally, one-bedroom apartments account for 4.7% of all property types, compared with 4.4% in 2006.
According to the government’s State of Australian Cities 2011 report, demand for studio apartments and one-bedroom units looks set to increase as the proportion of people living alone continues to rise.
The proportion of lone households is forecast to grow from 24% to 28% by 2031, according to ABS estimates.
Source: ABS
By 2031 there will be more than 3.2 million lone households in Australia, an increase of 1.4 million from the 1.9 million lone households measured in the 2006 census.
The increase in the number of lone-person households will be highest in the largest capitals, Sydney and Melbourne, but the rate of growth will be equally as high in Perth and Brisbane.
According to the 2006 census, the gender ratio (number of men to 100 women) in lone-person households was 79.4.
The gender gap is expected to widen further to 77.4 in 2030 due to life expectancy being higher for women than men.