Morning briefing: First home buyers have "collapsed"

The head of an off-the-plan property agency believes the first home buyer sector in Australia is in a severe decline... REINSW calls for immediate stamp duty review...

First home buyers have "collapsed"
Mark Mendel, chief executive officer of iBuyNew, believes research carried out by his firm and recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that the number of Australians looking to buy their own home, especially those from younger generations, has collapsed.
 
According to Mendel, iBuyNew’s own data shows the number of first home buyers aged 25-35 55% of the sector at the end of the 2015 fiscal year to 40% by June 30, 2016.
 
iBuyNew’s figures coincide with the release of lending figures from the ABS revealed that the number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments fell to 13.9% in May, the lowest point in more than a decade.
 
Mendel believes young people are turning away from buying their own home partly because of market conditions such as rising prices as well as negative media coverage of the the real estate and home finance markets.
 
“Despite record low interest rates, the first time buyer sector has collapsed,” Mendel said.
 
“Even though property is very affordable with interest rates set to stay at historical lows, young Australians have been put off entering the market,” he said.

REINSW calls for immediate stamp duty review
One of New South Wales’ peak real estate bodies has called for an immediate review of the state’s stamp duty arrangements.

According to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW), the government’s own budget papers show just how inefficient and restrictive current stamp duty charges are in in the state.

“The NSW Government has openly admitted that taxes imposed on transactions, such as transfer duty [stamp duty] are relatively inefficient, because people react to them by moving home less often,” REINSW president John Cunningham said.

“Over and above the revenue generated, the state-wide economic cost for every million dollars of transfer duty revenue is estimated to be around $800,000,” Cunningham said, citing the NSW Government’s 2016-17 Budget documents.

In comparison, the budget documents show a tax on unimproved land values is more efficient, with the economic cost of NSW’s land tax estimated to be around $90,000 for every million dollars of revenue it generates.

(Your Investment Property)