Building approvals dive

[zanis]

And more bad news... or is it?

Building approvals dive

Posted Mon Dec 4, 2006 12:02pm AEDT

There has been a slump in the number of building approvals granted in October.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says approvals for both houses and units fell 7.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted, compared to the previous month.

The value of new residential building also dropped more than 8 per cent to $2.6 billion.

There were also fewer renovations and alterations in October.

Economists say the latest figures indicate another slowdown in the housing industry.

TD Securities economist Stephen Koukoulas says the fall will impact on economic growth.

"One of the key leading indicators for the economy tends to be the level of new housing construction, so if we get this trend continuing for the next couple of months then I guess we'd be a little concerned that bottom line GDP growth in Australia will be undermined by what is a sluggish level of construction activity and housing," he said.

 

[zanis]

Stamp duty costing three months' wages

Gee I wonder if Stamp Duty has a part to play in this??

STAMP duty on the typical home has soared 59 per cent over the past five years, almost double the rise in household income over the same period, new research shows.

The Bankwest Residential Stamp Duty Report found almost $53 billion in stamp duty receipts, both residential and commercial, has been paid to state and territory governments over the past five years.

Annual stamp duty revenues have increased 77 per cent over that same period.

The research found struggling home buyers were forced to set aside at least 20 per cent of their annual household income to pay stamp duty bills in four out of eight capital cities in July 2008 - Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

This compared to only two cities - Sydney and Melbourne - in 2003.

Typical home owners in Sydney and Melbourne need almost three months of their salaries to pay stamp duty.

Brisbane has the lowest stamp duty bills, with home owners only having to work an average of one month to pay stamp duty for median priced properties.

NOTE: cannot post source to news yet

Cheers

Marc