Australia might be facing an acute housing shortage, but across the country, thousands of homes are sitting completely empty.
Today, only about 48 people call it home after the ore dried up and the crowds moved on.
Sitting near the South Australian border – roughly a 13-hour drive from Sydney – Silverton is one of many cautionary tales of Australian towns abandoned following mining closures, fading gold rushes or changes to railway networks.
However, new research reveals the nation’s modern ‘ghost towns’ aren’t just the remote outback communities.
Analysis by Ray White Group economist Atom Go Tian, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, found 136,278 of the nation’s 10 million dwellings were classified as inactive, accounting for 1.3 per cent of total housing stock.
Sydney and Melbourne recorded the highest raw numbers of inactive homes, with the two cities accounting for around a third of the national total.
However, regional Northern Territory had the highest rate of inactive dwellings at 4.5 per cent, followed by regional Western Australia at 3.2 per cent.
Esperance Surrounds in regional WA topped the list, with 11.4 per cent of its roughly 1,000 homes considered inactive.
The area, which includes Condingup, Salmon Gums and Grass Patch, was followed by a number of mining and agricultural hubs.
These included Alligator in the Northern Territory, home to the Ranger uranium mine, as well as the iron ore town of Newman in WA, where mining giant BHP owns most of the local housing.
Other notable locations included Broadsound-Nebo in Queensland’s coal country, alongside WA wheatbelt communities Mukinbudin and Gnowangerup.
Yet remote industry towns were not the only places with high vacancy figures.
Lorne-Anglesea in regional Victoria, Civic in Canberra and Darwin City also recorded unexpectedly high numbers of inactive properties.
Unlike historical ghost towns left behind by industrial collapse, these urban and coastal pockets tell a different story: holiday homes sit vacant and inner-city investment apartments wait for tenants.
Seven of the 10 statistical areas with the most inactive dwellings were in Victoria, including popular holiday spots such as Point Nepean and Phillip Island.
Melbourne’s CBD, Docklands, Southbank and Carlton also featured, despite being among the city’s busiest residential postcodes.
Silverton’s population might have dwindled to a fraction of its former glory, yet some of the country’s ghost homes of today are hiding in suburbs where housing is still in high demand.
‘Blank canvas’ in sought-after Sydney enclave hits the market
The listing explains there is further ‘scope to build up and capture ocean views’.
Ghost suburbs emerging as abandoned properties increase up to five fold
The troubling volume of empty, forgotten homes has switched from middle-ring areas to inner-city postcodes.
'Much worse than it appears in photos': Vandalised and vacant for years, St Ives property sells for $1.57 million
A sprawling, dilapidated five-bedroom house in St Ives has sold to a family ready to restore the home back to its former glory.
The information on this website is intended to be of a general nature only and doesn't consider your objectives, financial situation or needs.
