Like New York and London: Major shift coming to Aussie housing

Is Australia on track to mirror New York and London as an all-investor market?

It is a theory that property expert Steve Palise, founder of Palise Property, forecasts for 10 years as he said the warning signs are clear that we are on track to become a nation of renters.

According to research published by money.com.au, investor-side lending growth is outpacing the owner-occupier segment by 600 per cent in NSW.

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Residential mortgage lending growth ADI domestic books. Source: APRA, Agile Market Intelligence

ABS data also revealed a historically high number of new investment loans, while home ownership rates continue to fall.

Investor loans in the state were up by 12 per cent as of June 2025, new investment loans rose by 3.5 per cent in the June quarter while new owner-occupier loans rose 0.9 per cent.

Mr Palise said asset inflation is pushing property prices further away from wage growth, leaving future generations locked out of homeownership.

According to Mr Palise, if this trend continues, Australia’s capital cities will soon resemble New York or London, dominated by investors and out of reach for people on ordinary wages.

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Steve Palise

Mr Palise said this was a trend he first noticed while living in the UK two years ago and also in his time travelling to New York.

“When I was in London I was shocked,” he said. “This is the norm in the UK, parents will pass on their rent to their children, not their property, just the rent.

“So they don’t lose their property.”

Mr Palise said investment loans have outstripped owner-occupier loans with property investing rising at a rapid rate.

“We are already at 6.1 per cent and we are at 5.6 per cent owner occupier loans,” he said.

“No one actually knows but I predict within 10 years we will be looking at a market where it’s mostly investors compared to owner-occupiers and homeownership will be a thing of the past.

“I found out a lot of London corporations were buying whole buildings and the same thing was happening in New York.”

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The all-investor market is more commonly the norm for cities such as NY. Photo: iStock

Mr Palise said this trend is due to properties becoming more unaffordable.

“From the 70s and 80s property would cost three times the income, in the last five years this rose about five times the average income with a current price now around 10 to 12 times income,” he said.

“Inflation and capital growth are actually pushing most buyers out, which is the whole reason why the government is implementing things like the five per cent first homeowners deposit.”

Mr Palise said unaffordability has outstripped inflation.

“If an owner occupier can’t afford it, the only people that can buy it is obviously an investor, to want the return hence, high net worth individuals and corporations and even just every day investors,” he said.

“There’s more and more people owning more than one investment property now.”

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