Connect with us
https://tickernews.co/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AmEx-Thought-Leaders.jpg

Property

Priced out: uncovering the hidden forces making Australia’s housing unaffordable

Published

on

There’s plenty of speculation about what has caused Australia’s housing crisis and what can be done to fix it, but Governments of all persuasions just aren’t prepared to do the thing that would make a big difference.

One of the greatest scandals in Australian real estate is that taxes and charges from the three levels of government comprise between 40% and 50% of the cost of creating new homes.

At a time when Australia is experiencing its greatest ever housing crisis – marked by shortages of homes, poor affordability, escalating rents and increasingly high construction costs – it’s outrageous that anyone building a new house on a small block of land will be paying a huge percentage of the cost to government.

Taxes, fees and charges make up almost 50% of the cost of a house-and-land package in Sydney. In Brisbane and Melbourne, it’s between 40% and 45%.

Recently published data from the ABS and the HIA show that the median price for a residential home site in our capital cities is now over $400,000 – but over $700,000 in Sydney.

The average cost of building a basic house on that very small but expensive block of land is around $540,000, according to the official figures.

Add those figures together. It means that the typical cost of a new house and land package in our cities is now around $950,000. It’s getting scarily close to a million dollars.

In Sydney it’s already well over a million dollars. And if you’re building that new house-and-land package in Sydney it’s costing around $1.2 million and up to half of that is taxes, fees and charges from government.

If you’re building a new home in Melbourne or Brisbane, you’re spending well over $900,000 and over $400,000 is going into government coffers.

Think about that. If you eliminated the government impost component of a new house and land package, it would cost around $600,000 in our biggest city. Imagine being able to buy a brand new house in Sydney for $600,000.

In Brisbane it could be less than $500,000.

Remember those figures, next time you see politicians standing in front of television cameras claiming they care about the affordability problems and want to fix the housing crisis.

Politicians have caused this crisis in myriad different ways and this is one of the biggest of all: they milk the housing industry for revenue and in doing so, they massively inflate the cost of creating new homes in this country.

All three levels of government use housing as a cash cow and they’re adding massively to the cost of new homes – to the point that young buyers can no longer afford to build their dream home.

 

Continue Reading

Property

Investors discover 25 top house markets for growth

New report reveals 25 Australian suburbs offering strong rental growth, affordability, and investment potential

Published

on

New report reveals 25 Australian suburbs offering strong rental growth, affordability, and investment potential

video
play-sharp-fill
In Short:
– New research identifies 25 Australian house markets offering affordability, yield, and growth for investors.
– Strong local economies and infrastructure investments drive demand in these markets, ensuring long-term capital growth.
As rental markets tighten across Australia, new research identifies 25 house markets where investors find a strong match of affordability, yield, and growth.
The latest Pulse report by Washington Brown and Hotspotting highlights suburbs outperforming national trends, offering sustainable investment opportunities.
The list includes regions from New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Tasmania, and Victoria.Banner

These selections are based on solid fundamentals, including strong local economies, infrastructure investments, and low vacancy rates, according to Hotspotting General Manager Tim Graham.

The report emphasises the potential for cashflow-positive outcomes without sacrificing long-term capital growth.

“These are not speculative picks,” Hotspotting General Manager Tim Graham said.

“They’re backed by real fundamentals, including strong local economies, infrastructure investment, and low vacancy rates.

“We’re identifying locations where investors can achieve cashflow-positive outcomes without sacrificing long-term capital growth.”

Strong Markets

Examples include Park Avenue in Rockhampton, which experienced a 29.1% annual price increase, and Lismore in New South Wales, surging 26.8% despite flood recovery efforts. Washington Brown Director Tyron Hyde notes that these markets are resilient and attract strategic investors focused on long-term growth rather than short-term returns.

“These markets are resilient, affordable, and on the move,” Mr Hyde said.

“They’re attracting investors who are thinking strategically and not just chasing short-term returns, which is always a bad idea.”

Regions like Victoria’s Red Cliffs and Mooroopna, as well as Northern Territory’s Moulden and Rosebery and Tasmania’s Ravenswood, signify a shift towards regional centres with increasing demand and infrastructure development.


Download the Ticker app

Continue Reading

Property

Why government policies keep driving property prices higher

“New book reveals politicians’ policies inflate property values, making homes less affordable; insights for buyers from Terry Ryder.”

Published

on

“New book reveals politicians’ policies inflate property values, making homes less affordable; insights for buyers from Terry Ryder.”


Politicians often speak about housing affordability, but a new book reveals how their policies are in fact fuelling higher property values and making homes less affordable. Terry Ryder from Hotspotting joins to discuss his new book Why Property Values Rise.

We explore what politicians really want when it comes to property prices, how location myths mislead buyers, and why luxury features like pools or prestige suburbs aren’t what really drive value.

Ryder also explains how constant change shapes the housing market, what myths investors should ignore, and the key insights every buyer needs to know.


Download the Ticker app

Continue Reading

Property

The hidden costs driving Australia’s housing crisis

Published

on

The biggest single problem causing Australia’s housing crisis is the cost of creating new dwellings.

The cost of the standard city house-and-land package is now $950,000 and is getting scarily close to $1 million for a newly constructed house in our capital cities.

Governments of all levels and persuasions tell us constantly that they desperately want to improve housing affordability, but what few of them shout about as loudly is that about 40% of the cost of new housing is made up of government taxes, fees and charges.

It seems incongruous that when cost is the biggest factor preventing new dwellings from being built, governments, which promise they are working on solutions, are doing nothing to ease the tax burden.

Builders and developers cannot deliver their normal products because the cost of construction is prohibitively high.

Earlier this year, the Productivity Commission revealed that government interference and bureaucracy had massively reduced productivity in the building industry.

Delays double the timeline

It now takes twice as long to deliver a new home compared to the 1990s.

This alone added considerable cost to new homes to the point where it is often no longer financially viable to build.

Recent analysis by the National Australia Bank confirms this. Its quarterly Residential Property Survey found that high construction costs and delays in getting approvals are by far the biggest barriers to producing new homes across Australia.

While much of the media would have us believe that interest rates are a big barrier, that was not the case, with very few of the survey respondents nominating that or tight finance as an issue.

It doesn’t matter how many new homes the Federal Government says it will build: until the issues of bureaucratic delays, high property taxes and the overall cost of construction are dealt with, building targets will not be met and the shortage will remain.

Terry Ryder is the Founder of Hotspotting and Host of  The Property Playbook on Ticker.

Continue Reading

Trending Now