Tasmanians who own their homes outright have an enormous advantage over renters and those paying mortgages, new figures show.
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Fully owning their homes made them $287 a week better off than owners with mortgages on average in 2017-18, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated.
They were also $204 a week better off than renters on average, and rents can be have expected to have increased since 2017-18.
The figures, for housing costs, cover mortgage payments, rents, council rates and water bills.
The ABS estimated Tasmanian home owners with mortgages averaged $330 a week for housing costs in 2017-18, renters $247 per week and owners without a mortgage just $43.
Even so, renting might not be for everyone.
Burnie-based financial advisor Tristan Dallas, of Mancell Financial Group, said his father had told him to get into property early and pay it off as quickly as he could.
"Moving forward, that's all changing with the next generation," Mr Dallas (pictured) said.
With modern trends towards increased movement between jobs, Mr Dallas said there was a question of where people would put down their roots.
He also noted research which had suggested whether it was better to buy or rent depended on where people lived.
The ABS figures showed renting was becoming more common in Tasmania.
The proportion of renters (26 per cent) in Tasmania was the lowest of any state or territory, but had increased from 24.5 per cent four years earlier.
Nationally, the proportion of renters increased from 27 per cent in 1997-98 to 32 per cent in 2017-18.
Mr Dallas said paying off mortgages freed up income which could be invested.
Renters, meanwhile, did not have to deal with maintenance costs.
Mr Dallas said if people rented and had the income and the discipline, they could build a financial nest egg over time.
Housing costs were significantly higher for people with mortgages than for renters in every state and territory.