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As revealed in Agile Market Intelligence’s latest Consumer Pulse survey, just 15 per cent of non-home owners plan on buying a home in the coming year.
Despite the high number of people with no plans to purchase property, figures are slowly shifting. As of June 2025, 34 per cent had no intention of buying a home in the coming year. That has since dropped to 31 per cent.
There were a variety of reasons behind this lack of purchase planning. For 36 per cent of respondents, they simply do not have the finances to do so, while a further 19 per cent believe interest rates and property prices are too high at the moment.
“What we’re seeing is a market where aspiration exceeds ability. The 55 per cent who want to buy but can’t represent the potential for market growth if affordability improves, as well as pent-up demand,” said Michael Johnson, director of Agile Market Intelligence.
Younger Aussies were the most optimistic cohort, with 23 per cent of women and 25 per cent of men aged 18–34 planning to buy in the next year, up from 18 per cent and 24 per cent from June, respectively.
Meanwhile, 14 per cent of women and 13 per cent of men aged 18–34 said they do not plan to buy a home, down 5 per cent and 3 per cent from June, respectively.
Older generations, on the other hand, had far less intention of purchasing property in the next 12 months.
Of men aged 55 and over, 67 per cent do not plan on buying a home. For women, 59 per cent said the same.
Johnson said this generational divide speaks to the changing nature of home ownership in Australia. Many are now comfortable with being long-term renters, and it is even becoming the norm for certain cohorts.
Surprisingly, NSW and Victoria were the most optimistic about purchase plans.
Broken down over five states, the portion of respondents who plan to buy property in the next 12 months was:
- Victoria (19 per cent)
- NSW (17 per cent)
- Queensland (12 per cent)
- Western Australia (10 per cent)
- South Australia (8 per cent)
Johnson concluded: “Affordability isn’t just about price. The cost of living, wage stagnation, and deposit hurdles all feed into whether someone believes buying a home is realistic in their state.”
[Related: Expanded Home Guarantee Scheme to double first home buyer choice]
