Property As a Contributor to The Australian Economy

Australia’s economy retracted 0.3% in the March quarter as the global pandemic did its thing.

As COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease and our government throws more money around to boost consumer confidence, create jobs and support for various sectors of the economy, it’s the Australian property industry showing optimism for our prospects.

According to stats from the Australian Property Council, a report from AEC Group (2015) the property industry was responsible for 1.1 Million Jobs (more than mining and manufacturing combined). It shows that 1 in 4 Australian wages rely on the property industry either directly or indirectly and that property as an industry contributed $182 Billion in GDP. Furthermore, the industry was responsible for 11.5% of economic activity and over 14.1 Million Australians have a financial stake in property through their super funds.

Add to this the fact that around 2 Million Australians own an investment property and it’s clear to see how important property is to our economy.

Increases in house and land will happen sooner than new apartment development according to the Australian Construction Industry forum, driven in no small part by first-home buyers who are incentivised attractively at the moment. This trend is supported by recent enquiry data on realestate.com.

There is discussion around the abolition of the dreaded stamp duty on property circulating through the chambers of government. Whilst this has been a good source of revenue for the government, it’s of little value if property transactions are low.

To round things off we have historic low interest rates which are traditionally directly linked to bricks and mortar.