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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn New South Wales, 35.0% of the dwellings were medium or high density, compared to 28% in Victoria.
Dwelling Type is an important determinant of New South Wales's residential role and function. A greater concentration of higher density dwellings is likely to attract more young adults and smaller households, often renting. Larger, detached or separate dwellings are more likely to attract families and prospective families. The residential built form often reflects market opportunities or planning policy, such as building denser forms of housing around public transport nodes or employment centres.
Dwelling Type statistics should be viewed in conjunction with Household Size, Household Types, Housing Tenure and Age Structure for a more complete picture of the housing market in New South Wales.
If you're looking at this data to prepare a housing strategy, learn more here.
Q:
Derived from the Census:
'Dwelling Structure is derived from the ABS address register supplemented with information from Census Field Officers.'
| Dwelling structure | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales - Dwellings (Enumerated) | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Dwelling type | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Separate house | 2,141,161 | 63.8 | 71.5 | 1,886,723 | 69.1 | 76.2 | +254,438 |
| Medium density | 577,180 | 17.2 | 18.4 | 461,951 | 16.9 | 18.3 | +115,229 |
| High density | 598,894 | 17.8 | 9.5 | 339,420 | 12.4 | 4.6 | +259,474 |
| Caravans, cabin, houseboat | 17,121 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 24,789 | 0.9 | 0.5 | -7,668 |
| Other | 13,558 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 13,489 | 0.5 | 0.4 | +69 |
| Not stated | 9,874 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2,320 | 0.1 | 0.0 | +7,554 |
| Total Private Dwellings | 3,357,788 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,728,692 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +629,096 |
| Dwelling type | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 2021 | 2006 | Change | ||||
| Dwelling type | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2006 to 2021 |
| Occupied private dwellings | 3,058,269 | 90.9 | 89.2 | 2,470,447 | 90.3 | 89.5 | +587,822 |
| Unoccupied private dwellings | 299,524 | 8.9 | 10.6 | 258,268 | 9.4 | 10.3 | +41,256 |
| Non private dwellings | 6,984 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 6,516 | 0.2 | 0.2 | +468 |
| Total dwellings | 3,364,777 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 2,735,231 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +629,546 |
Dominant groups
In 2021, there were 2,141,161 separate houses in the area, 577,180 medium density dwellings, and 598,894 high density dwellings.
Analysis of the types of dwellings in New South Wales in 2021 shows that 63.8% of all dwellings were separate houses; 17.2% were medium density dwellings, and 17.8% were in high density dwellings, compared with 71.5%, 18.4%, and 9.5% in the Victoria respectively.
In 2021, a total of 90.9% of the dwellings in New South Wales were occupied on Census night, compared to 89.2% in Victoria. The proportion of unoccupied dwellings was 8.9%, which is smaller compared to that found in Victoria (10.6%).
Emerging groups
The total number of dwellings in New South Wales increased by 629,546 between 2006 and 2021.
The largest changes in the type of dwellings found in New South Wales between 2006 and 2021 were:
- High density (+259,474 dwellings)
- Separate house (+254,438 dwellings)
- Medium density (+115,229 dwellings)
- Caravans, cabin, houseboat (-7,668 dwellings)
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