Daily Buzz: Tuesday, 19 March

PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.

Victoria’s underquoting taskforce sets its sights on Melbourne agency, voters come out in favour of axing investor tax benefits, and why Help to Buy could have unintended consequences

Welcome to Property Buzz, I’m Juliet Helmke, today is Tuesday, the 19th of March.

– Consumer Affairs Victoria is taking legal action against Barry Plant Manningham for alleged underquoting during a recent sale of a townhouse in Ivanhoe.

– The agency is accused of failing to provide a reasonable estimated selling price, with the property selling for about 40 per cent above the highest end of the price range given during marketing.

– Barry Plant’s CEO has denied the underquoting allegations, stating the initial low price guide was due to the property’s negative aspects and the final price was driven up by competitive bidding.

– Agents who underquote risk fines of over $11,000, or penalties over $38,000, for each breach under the Estate Agents Act of 1980. Higher penalties can also apply under Australian Consumer Law for actions including misleading and deceptive conduct.

– And a new poll has revealed that only a quarter of Australian voters support current investor tax settings, with 58 per cent favouring the introduction of limits or the outright abolition of negative gearing tax breaks and the capital gains tax discount.

– The survey indicated that young voters  between the ages of 18 and 34 are most affected by the housing crisis, with half spending at least 40 per cent of their income on housing, compared to 9 per cent of voters aged 65 and over.

– The organisation Everybody’s Home, which partnered on the research, acknowledged that political parties are hesitant to tackle the tax, but suggested that voter sentiment has changed since the last time it was an election issue.

– Another story that puts political policies in the spotlight, and Angus Raine, executive chairman of Australian real estate heavyweight Raine & Horne, has said the government’s Help to Buy scheme, which is currently before the senate, might inflate prices by putting more buyers in the market at a time of low supply

– The network head is instead advocating for the government to incentivize building to increase property supply and reduce construction times, though he acknowledged that ramping up home production will take time. In the meantime, he’d like to see reductions in stamp duty for older homeowners looking to downsize or right size, to increase the number of homes listed for sale and relieve the current property market gridlock.

That’s all from Property Buzz today. See you again tomorrow, the 20th of March, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.

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