The Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA WA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement today for housing construction stimulus that will assist with keeping the property and construction sectors alive during what are extremely challenging times.
We have also been working closely with the State Government on a similar housing stimulus in WA and we look forward to receiving details of the finalised package, which we understand will be released shortly.
“Here in Western Australia, the property and construction sectors represent 15% of employment and around 10% of Gross State Product,” UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck said.
“Without a pipeline of new homes being built, we would see a significant decline in jobs for a range of people including tradies, salespeople, planners, engineers, marketers and more,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“It is critical that our industry is supported in order to keep the engine room of our economy going,” Ms Steinbeck said. “I am pleased that the federal government have listened to our concerns as an industry and taken steps to address the impending downturn.”
“In WA in particular, the Housing Industry Forecasting Group (HIFG) recently predicted that projected dwelling commencements were going to drop by at least 3000 dwellings to the end of this financial year,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“That would lead to the least amount of dwelling commencements in WA in decades and would be catastrophic for the industry and the broader economy,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“It would also lead to a lack of housing supply moving forward that would likely push up prices and threaten affordability in the longer term,” Ms Steinbeck said.
The new stimulus is set to run from 4 June 2020 until 31 December 2020 meaning buyers have a limited window of opportunity in order to take advantage of this assistance.
“These new stimulus measures will provide potential buyers with that extra incentive they might need to jump in and secure a new home,” Ms Steinbeck said. “What a great opportunity when paired with record low interest rates and increasingly affordable prices.”
“We encourage eligible buyers to take advantage of this opportunity with a range of house and land package options available across the Perth metropolitan area,” Ms Steinbeck said.
“Overall this is a promising day for industry, and a promising day for new homebuyers.”
Ends.
Contact:
Chris Thurmott
Communications Officer
UDIA WA
P: 0406 271 895
E: cthurmott@udiawa.com.au