We’re sending this special Friday edition of Property Australia to wrap up what’s been a massive week for the Property Council and our members… A Federal Budget and reply, coinciding with our national premier annual conference – The Property Congress. And both major events left us with so much to digest.
Firstly, The Property Congress in Hobart was a timely and welcome reminder for all of us of the joys and benefits of coming together, and the Property Council’s important role in connecting our members. The esteemed line-up of industry leaders, with stories to tell and insights to share, is what continues to make our premier national event so valuable for our members, who this year turned out in record numbers.
For those of you who weren’t there, you can sense some of the excitement and highlights by searching #propertycongress on LinkedIn or Twitter.
And as if the Property Congress wasn’t exciting enough, we had a Federal Budget to dissect on night two of the conference.
In short, it was a budget framed in the context of an uncertain external environment which placed great focus on the cost-of-living pressures facing Australians. The economic recovery which underpins the budget has been a truly remarkable achievement, and the strength of those economic conditions is expected to continue into the year ahead.
However, the numbers in the budget point to two very important things for our sector. Firstly, that Net Overseas Migration (NOM) – which contributes to economic growth, household demand and an influx of much-needed skilled workers – is not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for more than two years. Getting NOM back up to speed, as quickly as possible, is critical.
Additionally, the budget highlighted Australia’s housing supply crisis, with dwelling investment expected to begin to shrink by 2023/24.
We have continued to show support when our political leaders unveil measures to tackle housing affordability, including both sides’ plans to expand the Home Guarantee Scheme announced in the past week. While welcome, these announcements still leave the industry looking for policies that meaningfully address the supply side of the affordability challenge. We will continue to advocate for action in that space through the election campaign.
