Housing supply and affordability top a shopping list of concerns for Australian property industry leaders according to a new survey from ANZ and The Property Council.
Fifty-seven per cent of participants said they were most concerned about housing supply and affordability in New South Wales, 13 per cent more than last year’s survey.
Other pressing issues survey participants said they wanted the federal government to address were economic management, energy, environment and emissions, cities and infrastructure delivery, population growth and tax reform.
Creating vibrant city centres with cutting edge urban renewal projects and delivering development around transport nodes were the top issues survey participants expected their state governments to address.
Rapid population growth and hiccups in the planning process have constrained the ability of the market to meet increased demand for housing in state capital cities, according to ANZ and the Property Council.
Property Council chief executive Mike Zorbas said planning and zoning red tape had constrained the delivery of 1.3 million homes over the past 20 years.
The advent of new infrastructure contribution charges in the form of Sydney Water’s proposed Developer Service Plan Charges and the Housing and Productivity Contributions Bill were adding to the red tape in the planning system, Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson said.
“Despite recent positive measures implemented by the new NSW state government to encourage private developers to increase affordable housing and deliver more market housing, the survey findings reveal a lack of confidence in the responsiveness of the planning system,” Ms Stevenson said.
Expectations for interest rate rises had tempered among survey participants, with around 40 per cent expecting further rises, down from 80 per cent in the September 2022 survey.
The outlook for office property valuations was overwhelmingly negative. With participants expecting around a 15 per cent capital loss over the coming 12 months.
The quarterly survey canvassed the views of 744 industry participants and measured overall confidence at 114 points – 100 points is a neutral score.