The Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) has called for more assistance to be made available to first homebuyers when the next government comes to power – and has urged that housing affordability issues can be resolved by looking at Singapore.
REIA president Peter Bushby said the original Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) signed off in 2000 involved a commitment given by all states and parties and that many have since moved away from that initial promise.
“[They] have moved away from their commitment and we’re calling on them to honour the original agreement. More than 80% of FHB go to established houses and not everybody wants a new house… often new houses can be more expensive than established homes.”
Bushby said all parties should be asked to sign-up to the IGA on Financial Relations Schedule A, as soon as the next government comes to power. This IGA stipulates that assistance given to first homebuyers will be uniform.
If this isn’t possible, the group wants a new IGA.
The REIA is also urging the Commonwealth government to encourage young Australians to make voluntary super contributions, which can be accessed to raise a deposit for a new home – similar to the home ownership model used in Singapore.
“The best model we see is the one in Singapore. They’ve got close to 90% home ownership… we’re suggesting that this could work here.”
