Property investors want action for improved affordability
New figures from ME show an overwhelming number of Australians, including property investors, support government intervention in housing affordability.
The survey of 1,500 households, conducted in December 2015, revealed that 76 per cent want the federal government to take action to make housing more affordable for first home buyers.
Support for action was broadly based across all states and generations, including those looking to buy property in the next 12 months (81 per cent) and property investors (70 per cent).
In terms of actions to fix affordability, 76 per cent agreed that the federal government should encourage more new developments of lower-priced housing.
Sixty-one per cent – of which 42 per cent are property investors – agreed that the federal government should reform the tax system to provide less support to investment property buyers.
Households on lower incomes were more supportive for winding back tax concessions for property investors, with 63 per cent of those earning $40,001-$75,000 supporting the idea, compared with 59 per cent of those earning $75,001-$100,000 and 59 per cent of those earning more than $100,000.
ME chief executive Jamie McPhee said he was not surprised by the findings, given that housing is becoming increasingly difficult to access for younger generations, which is having a growing impact on their financial wellbeing.
“ME’s December 2015 Household Financial Comfort Report clearly shows the imbalance in access to housing is contributing to a widening in the gap in financial comfort between younger and older households, a trend that’s continued to develop over the four years we’ve run the survey,” Mr McPhee said.
"That 70 per cent of property investors agree something should to be done and that 42 per cent even agree the tax system should be reformed to reduce support for property investors shows now’s a good time to tackle the issue.”
