posted on 2016-09-13, 03:10authored byKim Wyatt, Jarrod McDonald, Mohan Nandha
Australia’s recent housing boom and associated higher property values has engendered a scenario whereby buyers need to borrow more to purchase properties. First home buyers are particularly disadvantaged in this market as they are competing against property investors who can take advantage of generous tax concessions. The purpose of this article is to compare the value of the tax advantages available to property investors against the Federal Government’s first home buyers’ grant and various State Government grants and benefits available to first home buyers. This article reveals that not only are wealthy property investors better off in the longer-term by over $100,000, but their presence in the housing market is distorting housing prices. It appears that these favorable tax breaks have negatively impacted on first home buyers by encouraging them to defer purchasing a slice of the great Australian dream-home ownership. This finding raises doubts about the efficacy of current government policy, which allows property investors to negatively gear their properties whilst future generations are kept out of the housing market