The growing demand for apartment dwellings in Australia is set to stabilise, with demand for housing expected to grow as the 20-34 year old cohort enters the next stage of their domestic life, according to a new report from business research specialist BIS Shrapnel.

The Emerging Trends in Residential Market report found that not only is the demand for housing set to grow as members of Generation Y move from apartments, but the baby boomers are showing no desire to downsize in retirement.

The report, which examines trends revealed by Census data over the last 20 years, concluded that the increasing propensity to live in multi-unit dwellings across all age groups will drive solid demand for apartments and units over the coming decade, but overall demand is expected to stabilise.

Senior Manager, Angie Zigomanis, noted that 20-to-34 year olds have accounted for an increased share of population growth over the past decade, reflecting both the children of the Baby Boomer generation moving into this age group, as well as the age profile of Australia’s higher overseas migrationin this period.

“The growth in the 20-to-34 year old group has fuelled occupancy of units and apartments in the inner and middle suburbs of the capital cities over the past decade, mainly as renters,” Mr Zigomanis said.

“However, as this group increasingly moves into their late 30s and early 40s in the coming decade and enters their next life stage, the question is whether they will still live in medium and high density dwellings.”

Despite the ageing population of Australia, the report found that there is no evidence of any shift to smaller dwellings for the over 65 population.