'Permanently locked out of the market': Youth forum tackles housing crisis

But he said he probably couldn't do it if he wasn't living with his parents.

"I was pretty lucky I was living at my parents' house," he said.

"I could save a fair bit of money in that sense because rent is simply too dear - food, bills, everything's too dear."

According to a report released by the Australian Institute of Family Studies in June, Mr Vanderleest is not alone in this trend.

More than half (51 per cent) of men in their early 20s lived with their parents in 2021, up from 46 per cent in 2006.

And 43 per cent of young women aged 20-24 lived with their parents in 2021, compared to 36 per cent in 2006.

Freya Leach, youth policy director at the Menzies Institute and Liberal Party candidate for the Sydney suburb of Balmain, believes this has much to do with the housing and rental crisis.

On Wednesday, December 6, Ms Leach will chair a youth housing forum at La Maison on Gateway Island from 6pm.

She said the forum was about finding solutions to making home ownership a reachable goal for Millennials and Generation Z.

"Only 35 per cent of Gen Z people between the ages of 25 and 30 will own a home," Ms Leach said.

"For Baby Boomers, it was more like 50-55 per cent at that age.

"If we continue to see this trend of declining home ownership rates and young people being permanently locked out of the market, it will perpetuate the divide between Baby Boomers with all the assets and young people with nothing."

Ms Leach understands the problem as a supply and demand issue.

"Increasing housing supply is key," she said.

"And that has to come through zoning reform, allowing people to build high density, releasing more land, incentivising councils to approve new developments and getting rid of regulation."

Tony Schneider, chair of the Indi Liberals and organiser of the event, said there were three possible ways to fix the housing crisis:

"Forty per cent of the cost of building a new house is taxes and fees, and for an apartment, it's more like 55 per cent," Mr Schneider said.

"If you can impact some of that, you're going to reduce the cost off the top straight away."

Mr Schneider and Ms Leach agreed that reducing or removing stamp duty was another possible solution.

"That adds tens of thousands of dollars when you're trying to purchase your first home," Ms Leach said.

"And it also disincentivises older people who have large homes from downsizing.

"So you got to look at all of the above, the taxes and the regulations that are making the housing market less efficient and stopping new supply.

First National Real Estate managing director Will Bonnici, who will be speaking at the youth forum, said house prices are stabilising in Albury and Wodonga following an influx of properties coming onto the market.

"But we've certainly seen some spikes in pricing over the last 24 months and 36 months," he said.

"And when you're talking about a vacant block of land costing you anywhere from $250 to $300,000, that's a hell of a hole when you consider that five or six years ago, you could buy an ex-commission home for $200 to $250,000."

Mr Bonnici agreed that stamp duty must be considered to fix the housing crisis.

"It's a huge cost that people don't acknowledge or understand initially," he said.

"If we talk about youth affordability from a buying perspective, a reduction in stamp duty, an abolishment of stamp duty or a stamp duty concession is going to be perfect for people to transact in that space.

"It's a delicate subject that requires more investment and thought, but I think this forum is a good start."