Morning Briefing: 'Generation Selfish' have themselves to blame for property woes

'Generation Selfish' have themselves to blame for property woes 
Complaints about the state of real estate prices in Sydney likely come from young people who are too “selfish” to make lifestyle changes necessary for them to buy their own property.

While property prices may currently be on the rise in Sydney, Malcolm Gunning, principal of real estate franchise Gunning, believes it is the actions of individuals unwilling to give up some of life’s niceties that is keeping them out of the property market, rather than prices.

“There are lots of young people who are complaining that it is too hard to buy in Sydney, however they won’t forgo their material possessions,” Gunning said.

“More and more we are seeing a victim mentality associated with the high cost of property, yet this ‘generation selfish’ sees wide screen TVs, designer clothes, international holidays and eating out as every day essentials,” he said.

Recent price growth figures revealed the median price for a house in Sydney was $1,021,968 at the end of June, while the median unit price was $669,830.

Gunning also said young people in Sydney seem unwilling to scale down expectations and are unwilling to look outside the city’s most desirable locations, though recent survey of first home buyers from St.George Bank revealed a large portion of first time buyers were prepared to give up on their dream location.

Australian governments not alone in tax hikes for foreign buyers
Foreign investors may feel like state governments in Australia are exploiting them given recent tax hikes, but they may fell less taken advantage of when they consider tax changes proposed in Canada.

In their respective state budgets New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria all instituted some mix of higher stamp duty or land tax rates for foreign buyers of residential real estate, with Victoria’s 7% stamp duty surcharge the largest increase levied against offshore buyers.

Those moves were criticised by many at the time and are estimated to add tens of thousands of dollars to the price foreign buyers pay for real estate in the country, but they pale in comparison to moves made in Canada.

According to a report in The Canadian Press, British Columbia Finance Minister Mike de Jong has introduced legislation that will see foreign buyers pay an additional property transfer tax of 15% on purchases in metropolitan Vancouver.