Staff Reporter
"Crippling" fees and taxes are "sterilising" New South Wales' housing supply, according to a Sydney real estate group.
John Starr, founder of Starr Partners, one of greater western Sydney's largest real estate groups, said fees and taxes on land development were preventing housing development - with supply already falling well and truly short.
"Thousands of hectares have been released in and around Western Sydney, but developers have done nothing to move forward because they can't afford the fees and taxes," he said.
Mr Starr's comments echo ongoing calls from the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) and Housing Industry Association (HIA) for the government to address long overdue supply issues in the housing market.
Mr Starr said greater western Sydney traditionally attracted Sydney's largest number of first home buyers, but the difficulty for developers to get in to the market was creating a stock shortage.
"We are experiencing strong demand for properties however there is simply not enough available stock to meet buyer and tenant demand."