Page 100 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 14 February 2012
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Through phases 1 and 2 of the affordable housing action plan we have made a difference. You need only ask those families who have been assisted into that dream of homeownership through a variety of ACT government interventions to assure yourselves of the value of those interventions.
I note that throughout the course of this debate we have had to achieve these public policy outcomes without the support of the Canberra Liberals. I would like to put on the public record and acknowledge the support of the ACT Greens for a number of these innovative measures. That is credit to the Greens party for their recognition of innovative public policy.
The ACT housing market is one of the most robust in Australia. Over the last four years more than 17,000 new dwelling sites have been delivered in the territory, and much of this is as the result of the government’s accelerated land release program. However, despite this increase, demand for residential properties remains strong, with 6,042 approvals for new residential dwelling commencements as at last year.
Data from the Real Estate Institute of Australia shows that the ACT accounted for two per cent of all new home loans, excluding refinancing, across Australia in September 2011, June 2011 and September 2010. This is comparatively high, given that our population accounts for only 1.6 per cent of the nation. The level of property investment in the ACT has also increased significantly from $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion between February 2009 and September 2011.
What this data points to is a market that has seen historically high levels of activity over recent years, reflecting the attractiveness of the ACT as—as we all know—a great place to live, to work and to study. Whilst we are seeing house prices stabilising after a long period of growth, the government knows more work is needed.
The high level of demand for housing is also reflected in our rental market, with demand for rental accommodation in the ACT very strong. Rental vacancy rates have been below 2.5 per cent since September 2005, and the moving annual vacancy rates have remained under two per cent since 2009. Low vacancy rates are not only a contributing factor to rising rents but, in the longer term, they can also restrict churn in the rental market, which impacts on the ability of renters to transition to more appropriate accommodation in response to changes in market conditions.
Industry advice indicates that the demand for housing in recent years has been driven predominantly by interstate and international migration, and the government projects that the territory population will continue to grow by about 1.8 per cent per annum in the medium term.
Other demand factors in recent years have included general trends towards smaller household compositions, growth in the tertiary education centre and sustained high levels of construction activity resulting in additional workers being brought to Canberra for projects such as the Cotter Dam expansion and the numerous federal stimulus works projects.
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