Stalling numbers: the ABS data that proves the migration 'peak' is over |
Time and again throughout Australian history migrants have been demonised during times of hardship.
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In recent months they have been directly blamed for Australia's housing crisis and used in misleading commentary about the financial struggles of vulnerable Australians.
This is more disturbing than usual because of the strident anti-migration rhetoric coming from some sections of the community.
But a calm, reasoned and evidence-based analysis of these issues shows a different picture altogether.
Recent research by the Australia Institute found the cause of falling housing affordability may not be because of too many migrants, but because of too many tax breaks for investors.
Over the past 10 years, housing supply has grown faster than the population. The number of dwellings has increased by 19 per cent, while the population has grown by just 16 per cent.
The research from 2025 shows that during the COVID lockdowns net overseas migration fell. From March 2020 until September 2021, more than 100,000 more people left Australia than entered it.
If migration affects housing affordability, you would have expected it to improve over this period. But prices rose an astonishing 20 per cent in just 18 months.
Also, a recent report by the NGO Prosper Australia shows the number of homes sitting empty across Melbourne rose 16 per cent last year, despite the housing crisis.
The Speculative Vacancy report found the number of vacant homes across Melbourne rose from 27,408 to almost 32,000, increasing the percentage of empty dwelling from 1.5 per cent to 1.7 per cent.
The number represents enough dwellings to house everyone on Victoria's social housing list twice over.
Much of the recent divisive discussion about migration has focused on so called "record levels" of........