NSW Property Boom Drives Record Stamp Duty Haul
Although some economists fear the effect of COVID on incoming figures.
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As property prices and transaction volumes continue to rise, the NSW government has collected a record $9.7 billion in stamp duty in the last financial year.
A recent record $930 million in stamp duty was collected in June alone – when 21,000 properties changed hands.
However, some economists warn that Sydney’s extended lockdown could diminish one of the state’s most lucrative revenue sources which saw residents pay $7.9 million in stamp duty on the sale of residential properties in the financial year ending June 20, 2021.
Further, NSW collected $1.8 billion in revenue on the sale of commercial properties this year.
It comes as property prices and transaction volumes rise, with Sydney homes surging 15% in the year to June according to data from CoreLogic. National prices rose at the highest annual growth rate in 17 years.
A rise in transaction volumes saw Sydney’s residential auction volumes surge 81% in June quarter, while Melbourne’s tally was boosted to 51% as sellers rushed to take advantage of the buyer’s market.
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The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, spent more than three years restoring the house, which is one of the priciest properties for sale in the Texas city.
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In 2021, actress Emma Stone purchased a historic estate in Austin, Texas, with a plan to move her family there. Four years later, she has instead decided to put the property on the market.
The actress and her husband, comedy writer Dave McCary, are asking $26.5 million for the newly renovated estate, according to Eric Moreland of Moreland Properties/Forbes Global Properties, one of the listing agents. The 1.25-acre property, located in the upscale Tarrytown neighbourhood, will be among the most expensive on the market in Austin.
Stone and McCary have spent more than three years renovating and restoring the Texas property, Moreland said.
A spokesperson for Stone didn’t respond to requests for comment. Moreland said the couple’s New York business interests have expanded since they started the remodel, and while they hope to live in Austin eventually, it doesn’t make sense for now.
The couple, who are co-founders of the production company Fruit Tree, own a roughly $12 million apartment in lower Manhattan, according to property records. Stone is slated to star in the upcoming contemporary Western film “Eddington.”
It’s unclear what Stone and McCary paid for the Austin property, since Texas is a nondisclosure state . The Georgian-style brick house dates to around 1940, making it one of the oldest estates in the area.
The roughly 10,000-square-foot estate includes a main house with four bedrooms and a two-bedroom guesthouse. The property also has a pool, a hot tub, and a garage with a screening room and entertaining space above.
As part of the renovation, the couple removed, cleaned and reused all the exterior brick. They also reconfigured some of the living spaces, opening the kitchen to the living room for a more modern layout. It took more than a year just to install the millwork in the screening room, said Moreland.
The contractors are now putting the finishing touches on the property, he said.
The “La La Land” actress has a track record of buying and selling her homes for significantly more than she paid. In 2022, she sold her blufftop Malibu, Calif., home for $4.425 million after buying it for $3.25 million in 2018, according to property records.
Last year, she sold her home in L.A.’s Comstock Hills neighbourhood for $4.3 million, significantly more than the $2.3 million she paid in 2019.
Austin saw an influx of new residents during COVID, but many of those are now returning to the East and West coasts, particularly workers in the tech sector.
While the market “has come down to earth a little bit” since the pandemic-era boom, Moreland said, he has seen a number of $20 million-plus deals over the past few months.
Moreland has the listing with colleague Diane Humphreys.
Simon Cohen, one of Australia’s top luxury property buyers, discusses the growing appeal of family homes, the rise of technology in high-end properties, and the neighbourhoods to dominate Sydney’s ultra-luxury market this year.
The late rock star and his wife, model Iman, visited the house after seeing a news story about its unusual design by local architects Shim-Sutcliffe.
