Security and Anxiety of Homeownership: Perceptions of Middle‐class Australians at Different Stages of their Housing Careers

Abstract

This article explores narratives of homeownership by middle‐class Australians in the context of an increasingly complex and volatile housing market. Our analysis focuses on people's perceptions and feelings of security and anxiety at different stages in their housing careers. We use the concepts of ontological security and risk society to frame the analysis. The participants' narratives of homeownership were mainly positive, in tune with a well established idea of homeownership as the fulfilment of the ‘great Australian dream’, and the view that homeownership influences people's status, identity and sense of belonging in a positive way. However, we found that homeownership created its own set of anxieties. These anxieties varied in people of different ages and at different stages of their housing careers. Mortgage indebtedness, high interest rates, housing market volatility and the threat of global recession were the most often mentioned sources of anxiety. A discourse of global uncertainty and risk brought about by social change and globalization was pervasive. The article is based on narrative data collected in late 2007 through eight focus groups with a total of 73 participants.