With cost-of-living pressures increasing, housing supply shortages for buyers and tenants remains an urgent problem for Local, State and Territory Governments.
REIA and SQM found that liquidity has fallen in all cities across the country at the same time as the proportion of stamp duties compared to dwelling prices.
In 2008, up to 4.5% of all residential properties were available for sale at any one point in the market. Today the percentage available is below 2.5%.
Reasearch by Deloitte also found that a complete abolition of stamp duties would lead to an increase in property transactions of 30% in the short term, growing to a 60% increase after three years.
Stamp duty reform could ease these pressures by increasing houses on the market by as much as 50 percent.
Decision-makers must make the hard but responsible decision to remove stamp duty, pulling a major policy lever to enable a fairer housing market for all Australians.
The evidence base for the phase out of stamp duty is substantial and expert consensus is well established.
Decades of research has condemned stamp duty as a punitive, outdated, and inefficient tax. There have now been 25 expert reports of significance published since 1975 identifying the benefits of stamp duty reform.
Stamp duty is overrepresented in State Government Revenue, with 24-50% of state budget revenue.
Due to the changes in the housing market reliance on stamp duty also makes budgets variable, meaning the provision of schools and hospitals subject to revenue fluctuations.
Australians were also promised the removal of stamp duty in 2000 with the introduction of GST. This remains a broken promise to the Australian people.
