Since bottoming on 7 February 2023, dwelling values across the major capital city markets have rebounded by 6.6%, according to CoreLogic:
On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that state government stamp duty receipts grew by $1.2 billion to $7.2 billion in the June quarter of 2023:
The key factors driving this increase, according to the ABS, include:
- increased clearance rates, residential sale volumes, and dwellings prices;
- rises in housing market sentiment and consumer expectations for house prices;
- rise in immigration following border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic; and
- the return of international students to Australia increased demand for housing.
The heavy reliance on stamp duty revenue helps to explain why Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said that he has been actively lobbying the federal government to ramp immigration higher, despite the state’s acute housing and infrastructure shortages.
State governments can cash-in financially from immigration via stamp duty receipts if they cut expenditure on public housing, infrastructure and services to accommodate the larger population.
However, resident living standards will become increasingly crush-loaded.
