How do Australian house sizes compare to other countries?
Despite the average Australian house size at an all time low of 186.3sqm, Australians are still building big free-standing houses, although the average size fell in 2017/18, according to the report by CommSec and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The average new house built in 2017/18 was 230.8sqm, down 0.9% on the year, but the average house is 8% bigger than 20 years ago.
In fact, the average house built today is almost 30% bigger than 31 to 32 years ago in the 1987/88 financial year.
Australia is still building some of the biggest houses in the world, but, on average, US houses are still bigger by around 6%. While US homes (houses and apartments) are 8% bigger.
Homes in New Zealand are about 172.1sqm, around 8 per cent smaller than in Australia, and in Canada are about 10 per cent smaller.
Does the average house size vary by state?
Victorians are building the biggest houses in Australia with the average floor area of a house 244.8sqm, ahead of the ACT at 242.3sqm, Western Australia 235.3sqm, and Queensland 230.8sqm.
The smallest new houses built were in the Northern Territory 181.8sqm, Tasmania 186.8sqm and NSW 220.3sqm.
How many people on average live in Australian homes?
Since the first census was conducted in 1911, and up to 2006, the number of people per dwelling consistently fell.
In 1911 there was an average of 4.5 people in every home, but by 2006 this ratio had almost halved to around 2.4 people in every home.
Not only were more homes being built but other factors like the average family size was smaller, families had fewer children, more divorces and fewer marriages taking place had resulted in smaller families.
What is the average cost to build the average Australian home?
Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. The first thing to consider is the cost of land with the national average at $746 per sqm, according to realestate.com.
The cost of building is influenced by many factors, but in June 2018, the Australian average was $1270.80 per sqm, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
However, this figure doesn’t include design, planning permits, any site works or any cost blow-outs.
