Taxes push up new home prices
Excessive land taxes are stopping Australians from building new homes, the Housing Industry Association has claimed.
The Association’s chief economist Dr Harley Dale said there is a lot the government can do to help solve the current housing supply crisis – and now is the time to do it.
Speaking to Smart Property Investment Dr Dale said much of the nation’s housing undersupply crisis stems from the high costs and excessive taxes associated with purchasing new land.
“It has become very difficult to find an affordable piece of land to build a home on because there are a lot of taxes and charges involved,” he said.
“You pay a lot of taxes on new housing that you simply don’t pay on existing property.”
Dr Dale said until the federal government addresses these costs, home buyers and investors will continue to purchase existing property, rather than build.
“Until the government starts redressing the balance between new and existing homes, there is basically not enough incentive out there for people to build a number of homes that we actually need.
“We need a reform on the taxation in the land market, so than we can start seeing some inroads being made in correcting the shortage of housing.”