❓ Mr L'Estrange questions the Minister for Housing on falling Perth house prices. The Minister responds by highlighting positive indicators, government initiatives to stimulate demand, and criticizes the previous government's inaction.
AnsweredQoN 721Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOUSE PRICES
721. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to CoreLogic data that
highlights Perth house prices are still in freefall, while other states are
starting to recover, and Perth's median price is now lower than Hobart's.
How far will the minister continue to allow house prices to fall before he takes
action?
721. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to CoreLogic data that
highlights Perth house prices are still in freefall, while other states are
starting to recover, and Perth's median price is now lower than Hobart's.
How far will the minister continue to allow house prices to fall before he takes
action?
AnswerView source ↗
I
note for the member, and for the benefit of other members of the house, that
one of the peak bodies I actually listen to is an industry body, the Housing
Industry Association, which identified a five per cent increase in sales.
Whilst the member might say CoreLogic, I say HIA. The member might say ''falling
house prices''; I say, ''It's never been better to buy in Western Australia.'' It is very
clear that the unit price is a great opportunity for young Western Australians .
We see that. We note and we listen to industry—unlike some who never
listened to industry—and we identified that there was a demand problem,
particularly around access to credit. We also knew that the macroprudential
arrangements around some of the buffering was a problem, and the Treasurer has
taken that up and got a great result, I might add. Since coming to government
we have also put $900 million into the government's own loan book and
we have increased the amount of income a family can have to $155 000 to access
a two per cent deposit on a home at $480 000. Those are the sorts of things
that this side of the house is focused on. We create demand as opposed to what
the member's side wants to do, which is just sugar-coat, subsidise and
hand out little cash bonuses to some of their mates. It will not be done on
this side. We take a responsible approach to the way the industry is
structured, we understand the structural problems and we listen to people like
Dale Alcock when he says to us that our Metronet plan and densification is
exactly what we need to do. Thoughtful density of this city is something we
have to do. I listen to the Minister for Water and the industry that he
advocates for when he talks about some of the impacts that we need to have, and
some of the challenges we have with the aquifers along the Swan coastal plain.
This is our nuanced approach; we do not just glibly grab a headline number and
somehow sheet that back to something that a government of nearly two and
three-quarter years has done. The previous government had the opportunity of
eight and a half years to do things such as Metronet but it was asleep at the
wheel, back at the wheelhouse.
note for the member, and for the benefit of other members of the house, that
one of the peak bodies I actually listen to is an industry body, the Housing
Industry Association, which identified a five per cent increase in sales.
Whilst the member might say CoreLogic, I say HIA. The member might say ''falling
house prices''; I say, ''It's never been better to buy in Western Australia.'' It is very
clear that the unit price is a great opportunity for young Western Australians .
We see that. We note and we listen to industry—unlike some who never
listened to industry—and we identified that there was a demand problem,
particularly around access to credit. We also knew that the macroprudential
arrangements around some of the buffering was a problem, and the Treasurer has
taken that up and got a great result, I might add. Since coming to government
we have also put $900 million into the government's own loan book and
we have increased the amount of income a family can have to $155 000 to access
a two per cent deposit on a home at $480 000. Those are the sorts of things
that this side of the house is focused on. We create demand as opposed to what
the member's side wants to do, which is just sugar-coat, subsidise and
hand out little cash bonuses to some of their mates. It will not be done on
this side. We take a responsible approach to the way the industry is
structured, we understand the structural problems and we listen to people like
Dale Alcock when he says to us that our Metronet plan and densification is
exactly what we need to do. Thoughtful density of this city is something we
have to do. I listen to the Minister for Water and the industry that he
advocates for when he talks about some of the impacts that we need to have, and
some of the challenges we have with the aquifers along the Swan coastal plain.
This is our nuanced approach; we do not just glibly grab a headline number and
somehow sheet that back to something that a government of nearly two and
three-quarter years has done. The previous government had the opportunity of
eight and a half years to do things such as Metronet but it was asleep at the
wheel, back at the wheelhouse.
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