City backyard now barely a memory

The Aussie dream of a backyard no longer exists for those living in inner Melbourne as high prices push homeowners into apartments and units. Source: homelife

THE great Australian dream of a house with a backyard isn't just fading in inner Melbourne, it's effectively dead, according to a new report.

Since 2007 almost all - 97 per cent - of housing approvals in inner Melbourne, from the CBD and Docklands to Richmond, Prahran and St Kilda, were for medium-density dwellings, units and townhouses. It was 52 per cent in wider Melbourne.

The Bankwest Housing Density Report also revealed that in the 12 months to October, Victoria topped the number of medium-density approvals nationwide at 21,000.

"Australia's high property prices have made the Australian dream of a stand-alone house in the suburbs harder to achieve," said Bankwest Retail chief executive Vittoria Short.

"Young city professionals are shunning the traditional homeowner dream in favour of lower overheads and a shorter commute to work."

It comes as the Real Estate Institute of Victoria revealed older Australians looking to downsize could unlock hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity without leaving their suburb.

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