The Property Council of Australia has commissioned a Newgate poll that has found Labor’s proposed negative gearing changes will discourage property investors.
The poll surveyed 1000 Australians who were found to be more likely to shelve their plans to invest in new homes under the tax changes.
The exact figures had 33 per cent of potential investors said they would buy newly built investment properties under the existing tax arrangement but that number dropped to 24 per cent if Labor’s tax changes came in.
The survey results were similar for current investors.
The International Monetary Fund recently recommended that Australia should indeed wind back negative gearing and capital gains tax breaks but the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said these survey results showed we shouldn’t.
“The findings show that not only will Labor’s housing taxes not work as intended, but they will have the opposite effect – driving down new housing supply and construction,” he told Australian Financial Review.
“It is alarming that if Labor were in government, around half of the investors admitted they would have to charge more rent on their properties and the number of investors buying new homes would drop by more than 25 per cent.”
Property Council of Australia chief executive told AFR Labor’s changes could have a significant impact on property investment in Australia.
“These findings directly challenge Labor’s key assumption that its property tax package will stimulate new housing supply and construction.”
Labor’s shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said despite the survey results there would still be a large contingent of buyers investing in new homes and said it was owner-occupiers and first-home buyers who would benefit most under the plans.
