Thank goodness we’ve put last week behind us. The relentless news cycle was draining, dominated by the same old faces in the nation’s capital.
Olympic infrastructure, Federal Budgets and election announcements – talk about a blur.
With all that behind us, it’s time to stop for a moment and ask: how much of this actually matters?
The Budget? Hardly. A politician who spends less than they earn would get my vote (if they even existed). To the Government’s credit, Mr Albanese did finally answer the call to bring the value and income thresholds for Help to Buy in line with 2025 averages.
As for a five-week Election campaign? Definitely not. There is no relationship between politicians and investment success. The economy will keep churning, regardless of who’s in power.
And then there’s the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games? Now, this is where it gets interesting.
Remember Sydney’s housing boom around the time of the 2000 Games? The median house price nearly doubled in just three years. With the 2032 Brisbane Olympics on the horizon, expect massive infrastructure projects and a surge in jobs.
With jobs, comes people. And with people, comes demand for housing.
But here’s the kicker: Why isn’t anyone talking about using property investors to help solve the housing crisis?
The Urban Development Institute of Australia last week determined that we will only build 800,000 of the 1.2 million homes we targeted to build over the five years to 2029.
That’s a 400,000 homes shortfall.
Consider this, one-third of Australian homes are owned by everyday property investors – “Mum and Dad” investors. So why not get them to help fill this gap?
Here’s the myth that needs busting: Not every property investor is some rich mogul.
A no-brainer to incentivise them to do some of the heavy lifting in bridging this shortfall.
The biggest misconception is that every property investor in Australia is wealthy and/or a high-income earner.
The fact is, there are 2.23 million Australians own an investment property and two-thirds earn $100,000 or less, with half of them aged 50 years or younger.
The most common occupations of property investors are nurses, accountants, teachers, electricians and administration workers.
Imagine if just a fraction of those 2.23 million investors stepped up to the plate. We could make a serious dent in this housing shortfall.
So, I hear you ask, how do we get them on board?
Let’s start by offering them real incentives. I’m talking about increasing depreciation rates to 4% – the same as the multinationals get for build-to-rent projects, instead of the measly 2.5% offered to everyday investors.
Or we could allow investors to claim the entire interest during construction, not just the interest on the ‘house component’.
We need all hands on deck for this one.
If we can mobilise property investors, we can solve the housing crisis. It’s not just a good idea …. It’s a must for our future.
