Younger Aussies want more immigration even as surge leads to unaffordable rents and house prices, new poll shows

Younger Australians want more immigration, even as record population growth has been linked to unaffordable rents and house prices, a new poll shows.

While older people are more skeptical about accepting more migrants, those under 34 think otherwise – they are even demanding greater refugee intake.

a poll of 1,000 people conducted in July, commissioned by Immigration To Australia, found haIf of the 18 to 34 year olds thinks Australia should expand its immigration program.

Of this age group, 39 percent preferred to keep immigration at the same level, even as the Treasury Department forecasts a record intake of 400,000 for 2022-2023 and 1.5 million arrivals in the five years to June 2027.

Only 11 percent of the younger generation argued for fewer migrants.

Millennials, born between 1989 and 1996, and Generation Z adults, born between 1997 and 2005, are most affected by a tight rental market following the return of international students.

By comparison, only 31 percent of 35 to 54-year-olds favored more immigration, with 46 percent agreeing with current levels and 14 percent advocating a reduction in net foreign inflows.

Of those over 55, including baby boomers and older Generation X Australians, 30 per cent supported increasing intake, 46 per cent supported the existing level and 25 per cent called for it to be reduced.

Older Australians, who have paid off a mortgage, are least affected by higher immigration, because they were able to buy a house in Sydney or Melbourne in their youth.

But it is the young who are more vulnerable to unaffordable housing, particularly in Sydney, which hosts a large share of international students and skilled migrants.

To illustrate the seriousness of the problem, apartment rents in Haymarket, near Sydney Central Station and Chinatown, rose 32.6 percent in the year to June, bringing the median rent to $1,122 a week, it found. from data from CoreLogic.

Rents of Bondi houses have risen by 22.4 percent $1,840 a week, making sharing life a lot harder for low-income earners.

Sydney’s median house price is so high at $1,324 million that an average, full-time worker with a salary of $94,000 would owe the bank 11 times their income, even with a 20 percent mortgage.

Even units are expensive, with the median price of $808,407 out of reach for a college-educated average-salary professional hoping to avoid mortgage stress.

Despite the evidence, Immigration to Australia founder and managing director Alon Rajic said younger people are more likely to prefer immigration as a way to fill labor shortages, with unemployment at 3.5 percent, the lowest level in Australia. 48 years.

“The willingness of younger generations to see immigration as a solution to labor market needs shows that they understand the beneficial impact skilled migrants can have on the economy,” he said.

“Because they are strongly connected to the online world, younger demographics may have a more global perspective, supporting a more inclusive approach to immigration.”

Half of 18-34 year olds said Australia should expand its immigration programme, a poll of 1,000 people commissioned by Immigration To Australia found (pictured is Sydney’s Wynyard train station during rush hour)

48 percent of the younger generation want more refugees, compared to 34 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 35 percent of those aged 55 and over.

This group was more in favor of bringing in migrants with general skills for jobs in administration and retail, with 41 percent agreeing with this idea, compared to 28 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 29 percent of those aged 55 seniors.

CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said record high immigration boosted rental demand as the Reserve Bank’s 12 rate hikes since May 2022 deterred investors from buying a home to lease.

“On the demand side, record levels of overseas migrants, many of whom rent in inner-city housing units, have bolstered rental demand this year, creating an imbalance between rental demand and supply,” she said.

“Investors often shy away from the housing market during negative economic shocks.”

Sydney is home to 19 of the top 20 suburbs when it came to major rent increases and all were in inner city areas or postcodes on the beach and near the central business district.

Australia’s most populous city was also home to 16 of the top 20 suburbs when it came to housing rent increases, with the remainder in the fly-in, fly-out hub of Karratha in Western Australia’s mining-rich Pilbara region .