Mirabile dictu: house prices finally got a mention in the election campaign. It’s the NBN don’t you know! From the AFR:
The Financial Review’s Paul Smith reports Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has donned his Communications Minister hat to come out swinging in a bullish press conference at NICTA (National ICT Australia) in Sydney to push the virtues of Labor’s fibre-to-the-home broadband policy.
Taking particular interest in an article in today’s Australian Financial Review article that questioned the immediate benefit to house prices for homes connected to the NBN, Albanese ridiculed the idea that house buyers would not take broadband into consideration before making an offer on a property.
He also warned of a growing digital divide under the Coalition plans, which would see renters miss out as they would not pay to have fibre connected to their landlord’s premise.
They have estimated it will cost up to $5000 to connect a Coalition node to premises.
“Many Australians will never own their own homes, my mum was born in a city council house, she died in that exact same house … for 65 years she lived there, she wasn’t in a position to own her own home,” Mr Albanese said.
“Should people who are renting properties miss out on the national broadband network? She was a pensioner, she would never have had $5000 to spend in her whole life. This is an equity issue, we think every Australian deserves the best, every Australian deserves high speed broadband, and it shouldn’t be on the basis of those who can afford to pay.”
Funny how getting access to broadband is an equity issue yet getting access to the house itself is not. From earlier:
Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that under the Coalition’s fibre-to-the-node model, households would have to pay $5000 to have the NBN brought to their door, which could wipe $5000 off the house prices of homes which have not yet had the service installed.
Economist Linda Phillips, from Propell National Valuers, said the jury was still out on whether the technology could change house prices.
“While there is speculation it is adding value, and may have done in some cases, Propell valuers don’t yet have a consensus on whether it does, or will do in future,” she said. “As for the figure of $5000 mentioned in the press, considering the median house price is around $500,000, it would be difficult to isolate the cause of a price movement as small as $5000.
Andrew Wilson, senior economist for Australian Property Monitors said the NBN roll-out was still in its early stages. Not enough people were using the technology to have reached a level where it was in demand. He said the $5000 price difference debate may have merit but, for now, buyers did not see the value in it – nor did they expect to pay less for a home without it.
So it’s bad that folks who can’t afford to buy a home can’t get broadband but it’s good that broadband makes it harder for folks to buy a home.
Figure that out.
