A new type of class divide is emerging – and property is to blame

July 12, 2026 — 5:01am

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While the bells and whistles of the great Australian dream might differ for everyone, the broad picture always looks the same: a comfortable-sized home for a family to call their own, usually with one or two cars parked in the driveway and a backyard sizeable enough for the kids to run around after school.

To its core, the dream is one of middle-class aspiration. But of late there’s been much discussion about this cohort of Australians and whether the dream risks disappearing – either through the boom in artificial intelligence putting all our careers at risk, or through sheer unaffordability.

While concerns about the end of this era may be warranted in some respects, to my mind it’s actually a tale of two middle classes and the divide emerging within existing divides.

There’s no definitive definition of specific “classes” in Australia, but economists generally agree that a person’s income, assets and profession tend to delineate the top, middle and lower brackets.

Using Household Income and Wealth data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, KPMG recently found that those with a net wealth – including property, superannuation, savings, share portfolios and other assets – of less than $300,000 constitute as lower or working class.

Those with between $300,000 and $900,000 are deemed to be middle class, and those with between $900,000 and $1.6 million are upper class, while anyone with $1.6 million is in the “elite”.

Property is the single most important key to enjoying long-term financial comfort in this........

© The Sydney Morning Herald