Housing grants are pushing demand for residential land in Tasmania, according to the latest update from Herron Todd White.
Tasmania's First Home Builders Grant and the federal government's HomeBuilder Scheme are boosting the demand for land in the state, reducing the supply and applying upward pressure on prices.
For instance, the regional centre of New Norfolk reported a spike in land sales following the announcement of the housing grants. The prices for standard lots in the region increased from $75,000 in 2018 to $135,000 this year.
Brighton Estate also registered strong gains, with prices for residential land climbing from around 10% to 15% since 2017.
Even newly released developments are reporting increased demand. White Stone Point Estate in Austins Ferry is one example. More than half of the available residential building lots in the site, most of which have good water views, have been sold on an off-the-plan basis with prices ranging from $150,000 to $250,000.
"Stages 9 to 12 are currently under construction and have not yet been released, however there is a high degree of interest and enquiry received so far," said Stephan Ning Liu, a property valuer at HTW.
However, Liu said the increase in land demand has led to some local builders increasing their construction quotes.
"Conversations with local builders have indicated that this may be due to a lack of qualified tradespeople and incidental increased labour costs," he said.
