Daily Buzz: Saturday, 13 April

PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.

The NSW property industry reacts to talk of more taxes, auction volumes hold steady, and West Australian rents rise

Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Juliet Helmke. Today is Saturday, 13 April.

– Comments from the NSW premier revealed that the state government is considering increasing taxes on foreign property investors, in the same week that the state also released its plan to lodge a levy against property owners to pay for emergency services. The property industry reacted with frustration, stating that increasing the cost of housing is at odds with the government’s aim of increasing affordability across the state.

– Concerns were voiced by representatives at the Property Council of Australia, Housing Industry Association and Real Estate Industry of New South Wales, who argued that deterring foreign investment in the state would drive up the cost of rents, and decrease the amount of new building particularly in the apartment sector.

– The government’s decision to shift the Emergency Services Levy from insurance to property was also been met with resistance, with industry leaders insisting the change would not represent an equitable or sustainable funding system for the much needed services.

– Turning to sales, and the volume of auctions is set to see little deviation this week from the week prior, with CoreLogic revealing that 1,980 capital city homes are set to go under the hammer over the week ending 14 April – only slightly below the 1,985 homes that hit the block the previous period.

– Melbourne is set to be the busiest auction market this week with 867 homes scheduled for auction, while Sydney’s auction volume has also remained strong with 854 homes set to go under the hammer.

– Across the smaller capital cities however, the two traditionally busier auction markets of Brisbane and Adelaide have seen their auction volumes measurably decrease. Brisbane’s 104 homes slated for auction mark a 15 per cent drop week on week, while Adelaide’s 73 homes up for auction register a weighty 40 per cent decrease.

– And over in the rental market, there was more bad news out of the Rental Pain Index from Suburb Trends this week, with the data revealing that Australians are now spending on average 30.5 per cent of their income on rent – crossing the official 30 per cent threshold that’s generally considered to indicate residents are in housing stress. 

The situation most severe in Western Australia, where rents climbed 15 per cent over a 12-month period, on average.

– Queensland and NSW have also seen significant rental increases, with residents expected to pay over 32 per cent of their income on rent in these states.

And that’s all from Property Buzz for the week. See you again on Monday 15 April, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.

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