Not Enough Land or New Houses in Australia

Feb. 14, 2010 - PRLog -- Media Release – 10 February 2010


FIRST NATIONAL CALLS FOR MORE LAND RELEASES

First National Real Estate CEO, Ray Ellis, is calling for state and federal governments to release more vacant land to meet increasing demand across Australia.

“This country is facing one of the worst housing shortages in its history with no foreseeable easing of the situation in the near future,” Mr Ellis said.

“Housing approvals are still falling, and we are already facing a net shortfall of 50,000 new houses per annum on current figures.

“These rates leave us with a chronic shortage of supply to meet the needs of the more than 35 million people expected to live in Australia within the next 40 years.  To keep up with demand, Australia should be building around 180,000 homes a year.”

Mr Ellis makes the call following forecasts that Housing Affordability is to decline further as strong demand and the ongoing lack of newly built homes keeps house prices increasing.

“This is in addition to recent ABS figures that show the prices of established houses rose again in the December quarter, in keeping with our own members’ experience, as outlined in our recent 2010 Property Outlook” Mr Ellis said.

The December figures showed house prices increased 5.2 per cent nationally, more than at any other time in 2009.

Mr Ellis said even the government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) falls well short of addressing the issue.

“The NRAS seeks to increase the supply of affordable housing for workers who service our cities,” Mr Ellis said.

“But there is no indication of an easing in rental vacancy rates for most areas in Australia, and, even with additional housing stock coming onto the market, there is still not enough to meet projected population growth figures.

“Our estate agents are reporting strong demand for property before it is even on the market.  In one case, buyers enquired about properties that were available in stages two, three and four of an estate’s development, when they were just releasing the first stage.

“And in Queensland, developers are still working on 2007 planning approvals, further impacting on the state’s ability to address its housing shortage dilemma.”

The Northern Territory will also continue to have an issue around housing stock availability in an increasingly tight rental and property market.

“The government has already released land in an effort to cope with increasing demand and the impending Inpex and Sunrise projects will only increase pressure on the Northern Territory’s property market,” Mr Ellis said.

“But every state across Australia is facing this demand and supply issue, and the only real way to address it is to make more land available.”

According to Mr Ellis, there is still plenty of land that could be freed up so that Australians living and working here are able to enjoy their patch of grass, which research shows is what Australians, and those coming to live in Australia, are looking for.

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Lets do the parliament thing  “ Hear Hear!!”
Issued by: Mareeba First National Real Estate

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