The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
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The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties
EP. 1427 THE AUSSIE BACKYARD IS DISAPPEARING – HERE'S WHY
Remember the quintessential Aussie dream? A quarter-acre block with a sprawling backyard for cricket matches and barbecues? That dream is rapidly transforming before our eyes.
Drawing from insights shared at Australia's largest real estate conference and data from realestate.com.au, we're exploring the dramatic shrinking of Australian residential blocks—from 800-1000 square metres in the 1990s to just 350-450 square metres today. In Sydney, new developments are even smaller, averaging a mere 280-300 square metres. But surprisingly, homebuyers aren't pushing back.
This shift isn't just about land scarcity; it reflects our evolving priorities as homeowners. Australia's aging population (now one in five Australians is over 65, compared to one in ten previously) has less interest in maintaining large outdoor spaces. First-home buyers and downsizers alike are prioritizing internal living space, location, and lifestyle amenities over backyard cricket pitches.
From an urban planning perspective, this transformation makes perfect sense. As one agent points out, developing within existing urban areas allows cities to expand existing infrastructure rather than building entirely new facilities on the outskirts. Sydney occupies roughly the same geographical footprint as Tokyo but houses a fraction of the population—hinting at the potential for increased urban density.
Will the great Aussie backyard become a relic of the past? Are we losing something essential to our national character, or simply adapting to contemporary realities? Join us as we explore how this cultural shift is reshaping our suburbs and cities—and what it means for the future of Australian residential life.
Subscribe to our channel for more insights into real estate trends that are transforming how Australians live, work, and play.
The fall of the great Aussie backyard happening before us. We're going to talk about it as real estate agents on the northern beaches. What's happening to the backyard? Stay tuned. I'm the ringleader, so let's get up. Good morning Hello.
Speaker 2:How are ya? Yeah, really good, thank you. This is a fascinating topic Spoken widely at the biggest real estate conference In the Southern Hemisphere yesterday the fall of the Aussie back garden. Who spoke about it? Industry leaders, Not only industry leaders, but also realestatecom, the number one online real estate website in our country for property data and insights, and I was just blown away. It sounds so simple, but Aussies have shifted their priority list with their shopping and the back garden is one of them.
Speaker 1:Wow. Well, you know what. We've thought it, we've spoken about it and it's happened. It's happened the importance of the backyard. So how has it happened, billy? What's happening? They're not asking for block sizes anymore. They're not brown-nosing little blocks. What's happening?
Speaker 2:Well, the biggest shift is the shrinking size. In the 1990s the average Australian block size was 800 metres to 1,000 square metres. That was considered standard. Today new residential average is just between 350 to 450, especially in urban growth areas. So that's sort of the key corridors where they're trying to push new traffic to. But for Sydney even the average lot size is between 280 to 300 square meters for the new development. So that's what they're releasing now. So it has changed. There's three, you know, sort of three, three step progress what are people bind?
Speaker 2:it's it's, it's a it. Why don't people mind? It's a shift in people's priority list and, to be frank, they don't have a choice. I don't think Like councils are encouraging medium density. Backyard space is sort of sacrificed for more internal space. You've got an extra living room, extra bedrooms, and then the asset class changed as well. So where people were either going further afield for a bigger house, they've now got the opportunity to live a better lifestyle, but a different kind of living, such as a townhouse so just as the robo-law mowers come along, people don't need them.
Speaker 1:Now they got smaller blocks 100%.
Speaker 2:And, and you know, else is interesting it the type of people that are buying these. You know, buying these properties on a smaller block size um, you know, often fit in with a first-time buyer or a downsizer, someone that doesn't really want the full maintenance of a big property. So it it just makes sense. And and another thing realestatecom was talking about yesterday is that australia is getting older. Um, you used I can't remember the the dates they were talking about, but I think 10 years ago they were saying you used to. I can't remember the dates they were talking about, but I think 10 years ago they were saying you used to walk down the road and one in 10 Australians was over the age of 65. Today that's now one in five. Australia is getting older.
Speaker 1:So what, the oldies don't want to buy the yards either?
Speaker 2:Well, there's just more people in the marketplace that don't have purpose for a big block, and so it makes sense. What the consumers want is what the developers will deliver, and it's where the better prices are being delivered.
Speaker 1:And on a massive scale. Also in terms of planning and scaling and stuff, it's actually much cheaper to deliver because you're really sweating the asset a lot more. So if you look at developing these blocks in that inner rung of CBDs, as in on the inside of the corkscrew, less hospitals need to be delivered, you just make the hospitals you've got bigger. Less schools need to be delivered, you just make the schools bigger, whereas when you're delivering these blocks on the outside of the corkscrew another hospital, another supermarket, another hospital, another supermarket, another school it's really you have to. You know highways and it chokes the center, whereas they would rather build smaller blocks in the core of cities rather than going on the outside of a corkscrew and having to deliver all that infrastructure yeah, I mean, just look behind me.
Speaker 2:What about this for a backdrop? I'm sitting in the gold coast, um, amongst some of the you know the newest high-rises in the country, and you know, none of these are empty either. Yeah, people are chasing a desirable lifestyle. People love it. They're happy to sacrifice the back garden. As I said, townhouses and strata living is amongst the fastest-growing type of property in the country. It doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 1:I'm also not negotiating, I'm not arm wrestling with purchasers on block sizes. So I remember 10 years ago, 15 years ago, I was having conversations like what is it? And they're like oh, I'm like at 680. I'm like it's really got to be over 750. There's none of that conversation anymore. It's just completely disappeared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, exactly right. The only time I ever hear a block size come up is in the context of development and trying to meet a minimum lot size for more potential ie subdivision, but otherwise I just never hear it. It's so interesting Like all the properties we sell, you get buyers that are looking for around that sort of 600, 700. I think that's a nice sort of medium level family sort of style of home. But you're absolutely right, I've never seen anyone lose a deal because there are 50 square meters out.
Speaker 1:Never, never, never time to change billy time to change. Watch the net. What's the next trend if you're watching?
Speaker 2:the next trend is more of this um, you can, you can see, yeah, you can see. Behind me there's, you know, plenty more coming this way as well. I think the reason for that is you know councils love it and you know state governments love it. They want to.
Speaker 1:Got your nice restaurants downstairs, go for a nice walk close to the water. Bang bang boom.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was interesting. Again, realestatecom I was very impressed with their presentation yesterday Gave an insight that Sydney's got the same footprint as Tokyo. But look at the difference in population. Yeah, in population, yeah, We've got. You know, we think we're sort of we're busy cities at the moment Absolutely not. It really just needs to be sort of an adaptive transport model, health model, social model. There's a lot more we can be doing with our big cities. Education is a big one as well, isn't it? Education? Yeah, there's a lot more we can be doing with our big cities. Education's a big one as well, isn't it? Education, yeah, there's a lot more coming.
Speaker 1:Can you explain your sunglasses?
Speaker 2:I'm just sitting in a beautiful sunny spot in the Gold Coast. They're a requirement.
Speaker 1:What do you reckon of the Metaglasses? I like them. They had definition to your, to your face at the shocker. All right, yeah there's a session for you guys, in summary, about blocks what we are seeing as real estate agents, and I think it makes a huge impact that look, it's confirmed, like we are. It's that's what people are thinking out there.
Speaker 2:Amazing it's not going the other way around. You know, in summary, it has moved from 800 to 1,000 square metres through the 90s. It's now moving to sort of 350 to 450 as an average. But in Sydney we're seeing, you know, we're seeing new land releases. You know, around the 200 square metre mark it seems small. We can do a lot with it. Shrink your block.
Speaker 1:Love ya, see ya, bye See you guys Bye.