The great Australian dream has become an unattainable fantasy for more people, with a new report showing home ownership is becoming increasingly out of reach.
Data collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows a dramatic fall in the proportion of households with outright ownership of their residence and an increase in the percentage of renters and mortgagors. 
The rate of households who own their own dwelling dropped from 42 per cent in 1994-95 to 31 per cent in 2011-12 while households still paying a mortgage increased from 30 per cent to 37 per cent over the same time.
One-quarter of all households were renting from a private landlord in 2011-12, up from 18 per cent in 1994-95.
"This rise has been partly associated with the increased cost of housing ownership discouraging renters from making the transition," the report found.
Released by Scott Morrison on Thursday, Australia's Welfare 2015 found an increasing proportion of young Australians were living with their parents until their mid-20s. 
Of people in the 25-34 year age bracket, 51 per cent were renting from a private landlord in 2011-12. 
The average first home buyer was 33 in 2011-12. In the same period, first homes cost buyers in the 25-34 year age group 8.9 times their annual income, compared with 7.8 times in 2000-01.
"Changes in home ownership could be due to a range of individual and societal factors, including housing affordability," the report found. "House prices have risen significantly in recent years, outstripping increases in consumer prices and median incomes."
Australian homes are the third-least affordable of OECD countries with only New Zealand and Canada having a higher price-to-income ratio, the report found.
The proportion of people in rental stress, in which households pay more than on-third of their income on accommodation, rose from 35 per cent in 2007-08 to 41 per cent in 2011-12.
Not that it necessarily gets easier for mortgage payers: "Households with low to moderate incomes who manage to acquire their own homes sometimes cut back on necessities in order to meet mortgage repayments, especially in the early years; and as a result, they ultimately may be forced to choose between owning a home and going without other consumables."
The majority of Australians aged over 65 own a home outright but the proportion has fallen from 78 per cent in 2002 to 71 per cent in 2011.
Higher living costs are associated with an increase in the rise in the rate of people working past retirement age.
The proportion of Australians aged 55-64 who have retired fell from 49 per cent to 26 per cent between 1997 and 2012-13 and from 93 per cent to 77 per cent for those aged 65 and over.
Acting AIHW director Kerry Flanagan??? said Australians were living longer and were healthier in senior years.
"Adult participation in the labour force is higher than 20 years ago, and while some people are staying at work longer, after retirement, the majority of older Australians are not using aged care services," she said.
She raised concerns about the increase in children receiving child protection services, youth unemployment and the proportion of young people who are not in employment, education or training.