Housing costs deter downsizing, changing jobs and having children
The soaring cost of stamp duty is making more Australians think twice about major life decisions
2 min
Housing costs, including a five–fold increase in stamp duty in just one generation, are dissuading Australians from rightsizing their homes at different stages of life, changing jobs and having children. A new report by economic research firm e61 Institute found a quarter of Australians under 40 years of age have delayed changing jobs and more than one in five aged 30 to 40 years have put off having children due to the costs of changing homes.
The research is based on a survey of 3,000 Australians conducted last year that asked them a series of questions on their attitudes toward housing. It also found that almost 25 percent of family homeowners aged 50 or older who own properties with more bedrooms than household occupiers are putting off downsizing specifically to avoid the transfer tax.
While the cost of moving encompasses many expenses, the research shows stamp duty is an outsized component that has increased considerably since the early-to-mid 1980s amid property prices rising exponentially. The typical stamp duty bill now equates to an average of five months’ worth of take-home pay.
In Sydney, a median-priced home demands $44,500 in stamp duty, which is a 5.4-fold increase in four decades. Stamp duty in Melbourne is $42,500, which is a 6.1-fold increase and the largest among the cities. In Brisbane, the median property purchase demands $25,900 in stamp duty from investors, which is a 5.5-fold increase. But current concessions for owner-occupiers in Queensland reduce this to $18,700.
The report notes that deterrents to moving hurt people’s wellbeing directly and indirectly.
“The direct costs are about being held back from a better-suited home — like closer to family, work, schools or other amenities, or a more appropriate amount of space,” the report states. “The indirect costs play out in the aggregate. Holding back people from changing jobs can weaken productivity, which can dampen wage growth and bolster inflation. And when people don’t downsize, scarce housing runs short.”
Abolishing stamp duty was the most popular option chosen by respondents when asked about their main priorities for state and territory housing policies.
Dr Nick Garvin, e61 Institute’s research manager, said: “Governments and policymakers must consider the unpopularity of stamp duty, and the indirect impacts stamp duty has on various other parts of the economy and people’s lives.”
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3 min
Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.
Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.
Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.
“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.
“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”
Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.
Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.
“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.
Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.
He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.
“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.
“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”
Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.
He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.
McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.
While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.
“People are looking for value for money,” she said.
She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.
“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.
The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.
“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.
He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.
While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.
“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.
Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.
Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.
McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.
Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.
“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.
“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”
As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.
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