New survey reveals the industry's most pressing concern
The property sector’s worries about housing supply and affordability have worsened, according to a new survey from the Property Council of Australia and ANZ.
According to the survey, 41% of the industry listed supply and affordability as the most critical issues for the sector right now, The Australian reported.
That’s a spike of 10 percentage points from the previous quarter and the highest response on record for the question, according to The Australian.
Mike Zorbas, chief executive of the Property Council, told the publication that it wasn’t surprising that supply and affordability issues are weighing on property professionals’ minds.
“It’s quite fascinating,” Zorbas said. “All of these property owners, developers, investors are at the coalface; they’re often seeing indicators on the ground about conditions in the market … so they can see what’s really working and what’s not in state and territory jurisdictions around the country long in advance of government decision-makers. That jump is reflective of everything else that is part of the dominant narrative at the moment around the housing deficit.”
Industry concern about supply is more than double the concern about economic management (16%) and energy, environment and emissions (13%), The Australian reported.
Looming housing deficit
Building approvals have consistently fallen in the wake of the pandemic boom. Last week, a report released by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation estimated that Australia would see a national deficit of 79.300 homes over the next 10 years.
Zorbas said he thought that number was “conservative.”
“Those numbers are extremely judicious,” he told The Australian. “To have a move of 80,000 in their conservative numbers is quite worrying. That perfect storm that exists between population growth, the very welcome return of students from overseas, and obviously the drive to get highly talented migrants out here to fill shortages means that there is going to be a real reckoning over the next 12 months not only at market, as a byproduct, the rental market.”
Policy action needed
Industry experts have long chided the government for not putting enough focus on housing supply. The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales recently lauded newly elected Premier Chris Minns’ pledge to focus on supply while blasting the former government’s attempts to address other aspects of the housing crisis.
Read next: How is the federal government helping Australia’s housing woes?
“The need to increase supply to keep up with increased demand was always apparent, and hopefully now we will see some action,” REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said. “For people looking to buy, the choices are slim, and we all recognise the challenges faced by renters at the moment.”
Zorbas told The Australian that there was an urgent need for the Senate to pass the Albanese government’s housing policies, although he pointed out that it was doubtful the government would achieve its goal of delivering 1 million new homes by 2029 unless more policy action is taken to boost supply.
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