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Welcoming the news of an inquiry into housing affordability and supply, the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has called for national co-ordination on the issue of stamp duty.
On Monday, 16 August, the House of Representatives standing committee on tax and revenue revealed it had kicked off the inquiry into the affordability of housing, with committee chair Jason Falinski calling home ownership “one of the building blocks of Australian society”.
In a statement from the institute, REIA president Adrian Kelly thanked Mr Falinski for his leadership with respect to the inquiry.
According to Mr Kelly, stamp and transfer duties, as well as land tax, are “among the largest barriers to housing affordability and consistently performing markets”.
He highlighted: “Families across all the states and territories, except the ACT, are paying more stamp duty today than 20 years ago and that is time to get serious about stamp duty reform.”
The president also noted that the country has “the fourth-fastest house price growth out of the world’s advanced economies over the past 20 years”.
According to Mr Kelly, “politicians cannot on one hand gripe about housing affordability, and then on the other say we need this income from home buyers and owners to fund public sector operations”.
The REIA indicated it has requested the Council of Federal Financial Relations “take on board this issue seriously and nationally”, rather than putting the responsibility on states and territories.
“The lack of national co-ordination has led to limited supply of both new and existing listings across the board,” the president continued.
“Now, more than ever, we need fact-based and bi-partisan support on policy issues for home buyers and home owners.”
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