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James HurwoodWritten by James Hurwood
Last updated 21/09/2023

Key takeaways

 

  • The ACT has Australia’s biggest new houses while Tasmania has the smallest in the country, according to ABS data.

  • The Northern Territory took the top spot for the size of their new townhouses, while Tasmania came in last for all types of new dwellings.

  • New houses have shrunk over the long term in all but three of Australia’s states and territories.

  • New apartments and units have also downsized, but new townhouses around Australia have bucked the trend and got bigger in the last 15 years.

They say your house is your castle – but it turns out the average new ‘castle’ in Australia is only about 230 square metres (m2) big. That’s not even as big as a tennis court!

So, which Australian states and territories have the biggest and smallest new homes by square meterage for prospective property-buyers? We crunched the most recent stats on Australian dwelling sizes from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to find out.

Average home sizes in the last 15 years

The nationwide data reveals that our new houses are getting smaller but our new townhouses bigger. New apartments in Australia have also shrunk over the long-term by over 13m2, compared to the 6.7m2 reduction seen in new houses.

YearNew houses (m2)New townhouses (m2)New apartments (m2)
2007-2008239.0147.0126.5
2008-2009245.9149.1118.8
2009-2010237.0158.5122.6
2010-2011240.0148.1121.2
2011-2012241.5149.8116.1
2012-2013238.3154.0115.2
2013-2014233.9146.3109.3
2014-2015230.6148.8114.4
2015-2016231.1154.5111.8
2016-2017233.8157.8107.9
2017-2018232.6147.7108.2
2018-2019229.8157.1107.6
2019-2020236.7159.7123.8
2020-2021230.4166.0116.1
2021-2022232.3158.6113.1
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average dwelling sizes per state (2021-22)

When broken down by state/territory, the data shows that the ACT has the biggest new homes − over 18m2 larger on average than Victoria, which has the second largest new houses.

The Northern Territory has the largest new townhouses, however, but not by quite as large a margin – only about five square metres larger on average than second-place Western Australia.

StateAverage new house size (m2)Average new townhouse size (m2)
Victoria240.8170.6
New South Wales239.4155.0
Queensland226.1134.8
Western Australia223.2193.4
South Australia213.4153.3
Tasmania182.497.2
Northern Territory218.2198.2
Australian Capital Territory258.9149.8
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average house size in Victoria

The size of Victoria’s new houses remains relatively unchanged over the long term, only being a square metre larger now than 15 years ago. The state’s new townhouses, however, have exploded in size, being nearly 27m2 larger now than they were in 2007-08.

YearAverage new house size in VIC (m2)Average new townhouse size in VIC (m2)
2007-2008239.8153.8
2008-2009252.7148.4
2009-2010237.1169.5
2010-2011246.0150.1
2011-2012245.9163.6
2012-2013242.0159.2
2013-2014239.9153.4
2014-2015235.2158.5
2015-2016239.5157.8
2016-2017243.3160.6
2017-2018246.4151.6
2018-2019246.6164.2
2019-2020251.6167.6
2020-2021240.0180.5
2021-2022240.8170.6
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in New South Wales

Both new houses and new townhouses have shrunk in New South Wales since 2007-08. However, new townhouses have done so less dramatically than new houses – the two categories saw 1.2m2 and 10.8m2 reductions respectively.

YearAverage new house size in NSW (m2)Average new townhouse size in NSW(m2)
2007-2008250.2156.2
2008-2009265.2163.0
2009-2010257.8157.2
2010-2011255.4153.0
2011-2012260.5156.9
2012-2013256.3168.6
2013-2014243.0163.5
2014-2015238.5157.6
2015-2016226.9163.8
2016-2017230.6185.5
2017-2018220.4153.0
2018-2019221.8159.8
2019-2020235.0162.6
2020-2021224.9154.3
2021-2022239.4155.0
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in Queensland

It’s a similar story in Queensland, which has seen new houses get nearly 21m2 smaller and new townhouses shrink by less than two square metres in the last 15 years.

YearAverage new house size in QLD (m2)Average new townhouse size in QLD (m2)
2007-2008247.0136.4
2008-2009248.6140.3
2009-2010241.9148.7
2010-2011243.5148.6
2011-2012245.4135.4
2012-2013236.4136.9
2013-2014233.7127.7
2014-2015230.7138.7
2015-2016238.4144.0
2016-2017227.2135.2
2017-2018231.0139.3
2018-2019223.9142.8
2019-2020227.6139.3
2020-2021229.7139.8
2021-2022226.1134.8
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in Western Australia

While Western Australia’s new houses have got nearly 20m2 smaller since 2007-08, its new townhouses have ballooned by nearly 33% in size, increasing from 150.6m2 on average in 2007-08 to 193.4m2 now.

YearAverage new house size in WA (m2)Average new townhouse size in WA (m2)
2007-2008242.2150.6
2008-2009243.3154.1
2009-2010245.6162.3
2010-2011239.2148.4
2011-2012236.0144.0
2012-2013233.9155.0
2013-2014229.5140.3
2014-2015230.0146.0
2015-2016225.8150.1
2016-2017242.9144.5
2017-2018243.1151.7
2018-2019227.5161.1
2019-2020233.8156.9
2020-2021236.5172.1
2021-2022223.2193.4
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in South Australia

Both new houses and new townhouses have got bigger in South Australia since 2007-08. New houses have grown over 20m2 bigger on average, whereas new townhouses have only got about six square metres bigger on average over the last 15 years.

South Australia is the only state in Australia to register a double-digit new house size increase.

YearAverage new house size in SA (m2)Average new townhouse size in SA (m2)
2007-2008193.0147.2
2008-2009198.0143.9
2009-2010193.8156.5
2010-2011196.3143.3
2011-2012202.6138.2
2012-2013206.0150.0
2013-2014206.1146.6
2014-2015209.5142.3
2015-2016204.9162.9
2016-2017217.4164.4
2017-2018199.2153.7
2018-2019198.5159.2
2019-2020205.7163.4
2020-2021201.7184.9
2021-2022213.4153.3
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in Tasmania

Unfortunately for residents of Australia’s southernmost state, their new houses and new townhouses are only getting smaller. New houses in Tasmania have got nearly nine square metres smaller on average, and new townhouses on the island are over 17m2 smaller on average.

YearAverage new house size in TAS (m2)Average new townhouse size in TAS (m2)
2007-2008191.0114.4
2008-2009192.5124.4
2009-2010185.6123.6
2010-2011186.3114.9
2011-2012191.5136.8
2012-2013192.8135.5
2013-2014191.6127.9
2014-2015182.8133.1
2015-2016189.4130.6
2016-2017196.6128.3
2017-2018188.3134.4
2018-2019181.5143.9
2019-2020180.0139.3
2020-2021183.099.6
2021-2022182.497.2
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in Northern Territory

It’s bad news for prospective house buyers and great news for townhouse buyers up in the Northern Territory; new houses there have got just over 13m2 smaller on average, but the new townhouses up north have got nearly 53m2 bigger since 2007-08!

That’s the largest increase in new townhouse size since 2007-08 of any Australian state or territory, eclipsing next-best Western Australia’s massive 42.8m2 boost to its average new townhouse size.

YearAverage new house size in NT (m2)Average new townhouse size in NT (m2)
2007-2008231.4145.3
2008-2009232.3141.0
2009-2010232.1149.8
2010-2011244.8182.1
2011-2012219.5156.5
2012-2013216.3158.8
2013-2014210.9169.6
2014-2015212.1136.5
2015-2016204.5174.3
2016-2017202.2131.0
2017-2018192.0147.3
2018-2019207.8162.8
2019-2020196.3136.6
2020-2021209.4163.6
2021-2022218.2198.2
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Average home sizes in the ACT

The ACT’s new homebuyers haven’t been given too much extra room over the years, with the territory’s new houses only increasing in size by about five square metres since 2007-08. The new townhouses found in Canberra and surrounds, however, have got over 40m2 bigger in that same time period.

YearAverage new house size in ACT (m2)Average new townhouse size in ACT (m2)
2007-2008253.6108.1
2008-2009242.0147.5
2009-2010212.6128.1
2010-2011203.6127.7
2011-2012205.4132.9
2012-2013212.9117.2
2013-2014224.0133.5
2014-2015209.9111.6
2015-2016231.3129.2
2016-2017220.1135.1
2017-2018227.7124.1
2018-2019253.8120.9
2019-2020256.2157.0
2020-2021258.3180.2
2021-2022258.9149.8
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

State-by-state new dwelling size increases compared

StateNew house size change 2007-08 to 2021-22 (%)New house size change 2007.08 to 2021-22 (m2)New townhouse size change 2007-08 to 2021-22 (m2)New townhouse size change 2007-08 to 2021-22 (%)
Victoria+1+0.42+16.8+10.92
New South Wales-10.8-4.32-1.2-0.77
Queensland-20.9-8.46-1.6-1.17
Western Australia-19-7.84+42.8+28.42
South Australia+20.4+10.57+6.1+4.14
Tasmania-8.6-4.50-17.2-15.03
Northern Territory-13.2-5.70+52.9+36.41
Australian Capital Territory+5.3+2.09+41.7+38.58
Source: Building Activity, Australia (ABS).

Sources

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Building Activity, Australia (December 2022). Accessed June 2023.
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