As property prices continue to rise and inflationary pressures persist, Australians are increasingly considering a more collaborative approach to homeownership: buying property with family.
And we're not talking about the familiar bank of mum and dad chipping in for a deposit. We're talking about multiple generations joining forces to buy and live under one roof, as well as brothers and sisters pooling their resources to get a foot on the property ladder together.
"It's a win-win for everyone," Maryanne Elliott, mortgage broker and finance broker at 360 Mortgage Solutions, told Australian Broker. "The cost of everything is halved: electricity is halved, the internet bill is halved, the rates are halved because you're sharing the cost. And then everyone sort of has their own wing, if you will, their own section of the house."
For younger Australians in particular, co-buying is increasingly emerging as a potential pathway into the property markets, which feel more out of reach each year. Rather than trying to shoulder soaring property prices, living costs and mortgage repayments alone, buyers are looking to family and friends to share the load, and, potentially, the address.
The number of households spanning three or more generations increased by 21.8% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). And the trend is only expected to accelerate over time.
While those numbers don't reveal how many families are buying property together, research suggests the idea is gaining serious traction. The 2026 Victorian State of Living Index survey found that 71% of respondents would consider co-ownership, while 80% of people under 35 years old would consider buying with friends or family, and 57% would consider multigenerational living.
"I'm doing a lot of applications at the moment where, say, mum and dad might sell their house, and then the kids are going in on the loan and the purchase with mum and dad," Elliott said. "Mum and dad use their cash, the [adult] kids get a loan for the rest, and they're all buying together as a group and then coliving as a family. Sometimes it's even three generations in one property."
The trend has gathered pace over the past 12 months, as a perfect storm of rising living costs, higher property prices and interest rate hikes has put even more pressure on Australians’ borrowing capacity, Elliott said.
"I had a settlement recently, the purchase price was $1.6 million, and the kids, the husband and wife, they couldn't afford that on their own. But as a whole family, they absolutely can. So it makes sense as a dual-living style house," she said. "I think that's going to become more and more prevalent as the cost of buying it goes up."
For Elliott, who is based in Brisbane, multi-generational living isn't just something she sees playing out among her clients. She's living it herself. She owns a property with her husband, children and in-laws, giving her a front-row seat to the practical benefits of having multiple generations under the same roof.
And while the financial upside may be what gets families through the door, Elliott said the benefits don't stop at sharing the mortgage and household bills. There can also be a significant lifestyle payoff, particularly as parents and in-laws get older and families juggle work, children and the everyday demands of running a household.
"It helps the in-laws as they get older to have live-in help. Things like mowing the lawn. That's tough for the in-laws as they get older," Elliott said. "And then with the children and the in-laws there, there's always a babysitter."
Belinda Sugars, franchise owner and mortgage broker at Mortgage Choice Parkside in South Australia, added that co-buying can not only boost borrowing capacity, but also allow co-borrowers to take out separate loans while guaranteeing each other’s debt.
"At some banks, the borrowers can have separate loans in separate names and they become guarantors of each other," she explained.
However, that flexibility can also create complications if one co-borrower wants to end the arrangement. Sugars urged families considering co-buying to agree upfront on an exit plan in case circumstances change.
"If one person wants to go in another direction, that's the hard part," she said. "It's either they have to sell, or the other one has to buy them out. I think they need to have a very strong agreement, maybe even timeframes, when they go in as to what will happen if the other person, say, gets a partner and they want the money from the equity from their own place to move in together. There's things like that that need to be discussed. That way there's not an issue."
Affordability challenges are causing nearly everyone to rethink how they approach lending, the broker added.
"For example, some kids are being offered inheritances earlier. There are siblings purchasing properties together; parents purchasing with their children. Everyone is thinking outside the square at the moment, which is a good thing. It just makes people do that when things change," Sugars said.
"And people always admire people with property," she continued. "It's a bit of a stigma if you're always renting. So co-buying is a very good opportunity to get into the market somewhere. And that's the beauty of a broker. We know what lenders will do to help."
