01 September 2009
The stamp duty concession announced by the NSW Government in the State Budget is beginning to bear fruit, according to the Urban Taskforce.
Under the NSW Governments Housing Construction Acceleration Plan, from 1 July until 31 December 2009 purchasers of newly constructed homes, other than first home buyers, only pay half the normal stamp duty on purchases of up to $600,000 in value.
The stamp duty reduction for new homes, together with recent planning reforms, has helped restore some confidence in NSW, Mr Gadiel said.
Developers have been keen to secure approvals so that they can sell new homes off the plan under the six month-long stamp duty concession.
For a $400,000 purchase, theres saving of just under $7,000 and, for a $500,000 purchase, a saving of close to $9,000. The maximum benefit goes to a purchase of a $600,000 home, where the saving is just over $11,000.
Developers are responding to the state governments clear signal and are getting on with creating homes and jobs in NSW, Mr Gadiel said.
The surge in apartment approvals has led to a seasonally adjusted 18.8 per cent increase in privately-financed homes approved in just one month.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
The construction activity made possible by property developers contributes $69 billion to the national economy each year and creates 709,000 direct jobs. The construction industry is Australias third largest source of employment.
Note: Illustrative graphs are in the PDF attached below.
