How AI data centres will change Aussie neighbourhoods

Data centres are getting pretty close to homes in the US. Picture: Getty Images The data centre boom is slowly arriving in Australia and residents are rightly asking what it all means for the neighbourhoods where these developments spring up. The same questions are being asked in the US. But with America’s own data centre explosion being ahead of Australia’s, their lived experiences offer potential insight into what data centres could mean for the population Down Under. The impact on home prices is a huge source of concern for many Aussies, and how data centres are impacting the real estate industry in the US is now something being heavily scrutinised. The situation in the US Data centres are increasingly popping up next to American homes, and they’re changing neighbourhoods in the process. The number of large data centres over 50 megawatts has increased sevenfold from 2018, and now U.S. communities host over 350 of them. Not surprisingly, the share of home sales near them has doubled, now accounting for 1.5 per cent of all sales, new Realtor.com® research shows. Data centres have emerged as the hot-button issue of 2026. Many cities and states have paused data centre developments o...