There?s no doubt more and more Australians are going to be living in apartments. Strong reasons include government moves to cope with expected population growth by squeezing more people into existing suburbs, the trend towards smaller households and the affordability issue.

One thing that stands out in the new Census data is the number of people who live alone. There are about 4.6 million Australians aged over 20 who do not live with a partner or spouse. Around half of those are people who have not married (yet) and the rest are people who are divorced, separated or widowed.

This is further evidence of shrinking household sizes ? people living alone and couples without kids - and the need for smaller homes. Given that the housing industry doesn?t provide small homes for this growing demographic (but continues to pump out expensive McMansions), we?re going to see more people opting for an alternative that is cheaper and more suited to their household size (which increasingly is just one person).

The Census shows the growing trend towards units and townhouses in Sydney. Since the previous Census the number of families living in apartments grew 11% while those living in houses grew only 2% (although houses still dominate, with 81% of households living in a standalone home).

Affordability, the desire to be close to transport and demographics will continue to push this movement.