Melbourne not yet becoming Manhattan, with percentage of apartments falling: ABS census 2011
The perception that Melbourne is turning into a mini-Manhattan given the high-rise apartment projects in Docklands, the CBD and city fringe is untrue, according to the results of the 2011 census.
Apartments as a percentage of the total housing mix in greater Melbourne have in fact fallen as a dwelling type from 16.1% in 2006 to 15.3% in 2011 despite the total number of flats and units rising from 217,836 to 219,111 during this period.
Greater Melbourne dwelling structure
| 2011 | 2006 | |||
Separate house | 1,039,342 | 72.6% | 971,782 | 71.9% | |
Semi-detached, row or terrace house, townhouse etc | 165,486 | 11.6% | 154,163 | 11.4% | |
Flat, unit or apartment | 219,111 | 15.3% | 217,836 | 16.1% | |
Other dwelling | 6,159 | 0.4% |
| 0.6% | |
Census 2006 and 2011 (ABS)
The 2011 census results also show that greater Sydney remains the apartment capital of Australia. More than a quarter of greater Sydney residents (25.8%) live in this type of dwelling, and this proportion is virtually unchanged from the previous survey.
According to the census, 11.7% of greater Brisbane residents live in flats, followed by Adelaide (10.4%) and Perth (9.1%).
Brisbane has the highest percentage of people living in detached houses at 79%, followed by Perth (78.6%) and Adelaide (77.2%).