Victorian Budget rides the housing bubble

Sunday 29 November 2015

The Victorian Government on Friday released its 2015-16 budget update, which projected a $500 million upgrade in the Budget surplus on the back of strong stamp duty and land tax receipts, courtesy of the Melbourne housing bubble.

The May Budget originally forecast a Budget surplus of $1.2 billion for 2015-16, however the projected surplus has been revised up to $1.7 billion on the back of a $402 million windfall from higher than expected property taxes, with stamp duties $390 million higher than initially forecast (see below table).

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.