Housing Publications
Foreign Investment in Real Estate
20 March 2015
The proposed tax on foreign purchases of new dwellings and ban on purchases of established dwellings is unusual among developed countries outside of heavily land-constrained jurisdictions (Hong Kong and Singapore). Placing a special tax on foreign buyers of housing has similarities to an export tax on domestic products.
The proposed tax on foreign purchases of new dwellings and ban on purchases of established dwellings is unusual among developed countries outside of heavily land-constrained jurisdictions (Hong Kong and Singapore). Placing a special tax on foreign buyers of housing has similarities to an export tax on domestic products. Such taxes are rarely in place for the very good reason that they deprive local producers and sellers of markets and bring about distortions in the allocation of labour and capital, with adverse impacts upon overall productivity. Banning foreign purchases of established dwellings, other than for national security concerns, is equally unusual and would have the effect of lowering prices to the detriment of existing owners (and to state Government revenues). The corollary of this is a subsidy to domestic buyers of high valuation properties.
The Impact of Government Land Regulation
6th Annual Housing Congress, Brisbane 28 June 2011
Fixing the crisis: A fair deal for homebuyers
This submission supports the aspirations of average Aus- tralian families and argues that current planning policies, more than any other factor, restrict the capacity of first home buyers, and other less advantaged groups, from achieving a goal of home ownership. Current planning orthodoxies inflate urban land prices and discriminate against younger and poorer people seeking to achieve home ownership.
IPA Backgrounder, October 2006
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