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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
Changes to stamp duty would help the housing industry rebound, according to Loan Market brokers.
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The brokerage conducted a survey of its 450 mortgage brokers and found a majority believed the government needed to increase stamp duty relief to stimulate the housing market.
“Stamp duty serves an important source of revenue for state-based governments looking to create balanced budgets, but in many cases this tax can erode a significant chunk of a home buyer’s savings and sway their buying intentions,” said Loan Market corporate spokesperson, Paul Smith.
“What stamp duty often does to consumers is reduce their deposit level so that they end up in lender's mortgage insurance territory and have to pay an additional cost to establish the loan.”
Mr Smith said the state governments may have to look at making further stamp duty concessions because the spate of interest rate reductions in 2012 had a minimal impact on the housing industry.
The survey asked Loan Market brokers ‘What action can the government take to stimulate the housing market in 2013?', with 55 per cent voting ‘create more stamp duty relief’. The remaining votes were split between ‘reintroduce or amend state level grants’ (32 per cent), ‘lower property taxes’ (10 per cent) and ‘release more land for home construction’ (3 per cent).
