Australian Conveyancer edition ten - We're Moving Out

AIRBNB CRACKDOWN

As the rental crisis bites, Brisbane council is tightening rules around short-stay providers such as Airbnb, making permits a requirement for owners.

Page 4

HERE TO HELP

Matt Dunn stepped in as chief executive of the Queensland Law Society this year and got to work on a five-year strategy to add more support for practitioners. We sit with him for a candid chat on the state of the industry.

Page 6

WE’RE MOVING OUT

A raft of market influences is prompting Aussies to reimagine their living arrangements. Entering the housing market means a mindset shift and relocation for many. Destination: the metro city fringes and beyond. A national snapshot reveals the country’s fastest growing suburbs.

14-page special report: Pages 12-25

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Home prices in three cities outpacing their peers

By POPPY JOHNSTON in Canberra

Home prices in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide are growing much faster than in cities such as Melbourne and Hobart and the latest data indicates those trends could stick around for some time yet.

Home values nationally have risen by more than 35 per cent since the start of the pandemic in 2020 but growth has not been spread evenly, according to real estate data company CoreLogic.

Price growth across hotspots Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide has vastly outpaced gains posted in other urban centres, including Hobart, Melbourne, Canberra, Darwin and Sydney. At one end of the spectrum, Perth has posted a 62.6 per cent increase in property values in that time, compared to an 11.2 per cent bump in Melbourne.

Digging into the drivers behind the “multi-speed” housing market, CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said there were a number of factors at play.

The fastest-growing markets

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Stories that moved the dial

were generally starting from a low price base, with cities such as Perth and Adelaide “still playing catch up” to other capitals when looking back over the past decade, Owen wrote in the report.

Some cities had managed to build more homes than others, which had helped keep a lid on price growth in places such as Melbourne.

Owen said there had been a stronger take-up of the first-home buyer grant for new homes and the HomeBuilder scheme in Victoria, and a property investment boom in the mid-to-late 2010s was responsible for an influx of inner-city apartments.

Interstate migration trends were also playing a role in the multi-speed property market, with softer demand for homes in Sydney and Melbourne as NSW and Victoria lost residents to other states during the pandemic, particularly Queensland.

Owen said there were reasons to

expect the variety in price growth across the capital cities to hold at “relatively high levels” over the next few months.

For example, she anticipated the oversupply of homes in pockets of Melbourne and Hobart to be ongoing.

Longer-term, the price gap should start to close between different cities, making capitals with slower growth look more affordable.

“This would help to stabilise capital growth trends in the likes of Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra, and possibly draw down the capital growth rate across Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane,” Owen said.

A separate deep dive into the property market by PropTrack found housing markets with the strongest growth avoided downturns in 2022.

When interest rates started climbing in May 2022, home prices fell nationally before starting to recover again in 2023.

Treasurer eyes a soft landing for economy

By JACOB SHTEYMAN and POPPY JOHNSTON

Inflation back within target, an economy that’s still growing and an unemployment rate “with a four in front of it” is the soft landing the federal treasurer is targeting.

Dr Jim Chalmers remains cautiously confident the Australian economy can avoid a recession while taming inflation, he said in a recent speech, and believes his government’s budget management is helping.

The treasurer has been defending the May budget from criticism it adds too much new spending at a time when inflation remains above target.

Chalmers asserts a “slash and burn” federal budget would be irresponsible at at time when growth has slowed to a crawl, lifting just 0.1 per cent in the March quarter and 1.1 per cent over the year.

“This is what a soft landing on a narrow runway looks like,” he said in the speech to the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit.

“An economy still growing, inflation coming back to band, unemployment with a four in front of it, tax cuts and rising wages supporting a gradual recovery in consumption, and a sensible approach to budget repair to buffer us against uncertainty.”

Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor argued the government was “slamming the accelerator” when the Reserve Bank of Australia had its “foot on the brake”.

“The treasurer likes to create the illusion that he understands what the

Lukas Coch

economy needs,” Taylor said in response to Chalmers’ speech.

“But his actions prove otherwise.”

May labour force statistics show ongoing resilience. The jobless rate has been holding well below long-run averages but has been gradually edging higher, which is an expected consequence of a slowing economy.

In a further sign of cooling in the jobs market, the number of open roles posted to jobs marketplace Seek has been trending lower.

In May, job ads fell 0.6 per cent from April, to be down 17.9 per cent over the year.

Global economic headwinds also continue to buffet the Australian economy.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank predicts global growth will stabilise at 2.6 per cent in 2024 before edging up to an average of 2.7 per cent in 2025/26 – well below the 3.1 per cent average in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global inflation is also taking longer to get under control than previously hoped, causing many central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer.

The figure is expected to moderate to 3.5 per cent in 2024 and 2.9 per cent in 2025.

“Although food and energy prices have moderated across the world, core inflation remains relatively high – and could stay that way,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s deputy chief economist.

“An environment of ‘higher-for-longer’ rates would mean tighter global financial conditions and much weaker growth in developing economies.”

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers his third budget.

Photo:

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Brisbane cracks down on Airbnb as rent crisis bites

By SAVANNAH MEACHAM in Brisbane

Permits will be required to operate an Airbnb in Australia’s biggest local council amid an ongoing rental crisis.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner introduced the permit system for short-term accommodation including Airbnb when handing down his $4 billion council budget on June 12.

The Brisbane City Council has also called on the Queensland government to follow its lead and better regulate the short-stay sector.

More than 10,000 properties in Brisbane are used for short-stay accommodation, according to data analytics site AirDNA.

A year-long review by a Brisbane City Council task force found residents felt short-term accommodation was causing security

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concerns, overcrowding, noise and antisocial behaviour.

A system is now set to be introduced where Brisbane landlords will require a councilapproved permit before they can list their property for short term accommodation.

The council will only issue a permit if a property has appropriate planning approvals in place, body corporate support and a 24-7 property manager.

“We recognise that shortstay accommodation delivers an economic dividend to Brisbane, particularly during major events when hotels are full,” Cr Fiona Cunningham said.

“However, the task force has heard from residents who are fed up with their residential apartment buildings turning into mini-hotels.

“Clearly more needs to be done to improve the accountability of operators to address complaints, and council needs the powers to weed out those who continue to do the wrong thing.”

Properties that do not meet permit requirements would be forced to go back onto the long-term rental market to help meet demand in Brisbane.

Brisbane is the equal-second tightest rental market in the country, according to the latest PropTrack Market Insight Report.

The rental vacancy rate in Brisbane rose 0.07 but still sat at just 1.11 per cent in May.

An initial assessment found the permit system would put more than 400 homes back on the Brisbane rental market.

“Brisbane has been Australia’s fastest-growing capital city over the last decade and we need to strike the right balance between the need for short-term accommodation during demand peaks and the concerns of residents,” Cunningham said.

Short-term rentals will continue being charged higher council rates to combat overcharging and to encourage a return to the long-term market.

The council said there were a number of reforms the state government could look at to better regulate the short-stay sector.

“For example, we would support the state overhauling laws so bodies corporate can pass by-laws prohibiting or restricting short-stay accommodation in their buildings,” Cunningham said.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.

Insurance soars as companies fold

By HOLLY HALES in Melbourne

Home builders are set to be slugged with a huge rise in insurance costs after the collapse of several construction companies triggered record claims.

Domestic building insurance would increase by 53 per cent from August, the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority said.

This included a 65 per cent spike in the cost of premiums for new homes, single- and multi-unit dwellings and owner-builders.

Renovation insurance will increase by 20 per cent. An authority spokesman said it had received 4000 settlements over the past 12 months to finish new homes for buyers.

“We have made record claims payments due to the compounding factors of builder insolvencies, high inflation and skilled worker shortages, all of which impact build costs,” he said.

The spokesman said the price spike was aimed at ensuring owners were protected as the number of builders unable to complete homes increased.

“DBI premiums in Victoria remain lower than comparative premiums in NSW – and they are significantly lower for new builds,” he said.

It has been a dramatic few years for the domestic building industry, hallmarked by the collapse of big builder Porter Davis Homes.

About 1700 homes across Victoria and Queensland were left in limbo when Porter Davis collapsed suddenly in March 2023.

Some 560 clients were not covered by insurance despite paying the construction giant before it went into liquidation, forcing the state government to set up a $15 million bail-out scheme.

Montego Homes went into voluntary administration in January, citing the impact of rising building costs.

The Victorian Building Authority later revealed the company failed to take out domestic building insurance across 64 sites despite receiving almost $900,000 in deposits.

Under Victorian laws enacted in February, builders who fail to take out domestic building insurance face a fine of up to $96,000 for individuals and $480,000 for companies.

Previously, businesses could be fined for not carrying out, managing or arranging domestic building work for contracts worth $16,000 or more without the required insurance.

FACE-TO-FACE with Queensland Law Society CEO MATT DUNN

QLS and a new era: Help where it’s most needed

By LEWIS PANTHER

Matt Dunn stepped into the role of chief executive at the Queensland Law Society in March, having served an ‘apprenticeship’ dating back almost two decades. The Tasmanian native’s long tenure with the society –punctuated by a stint at the Law Council of Australia – has already seen him spend 13 months as acting chief executive. Now he is ready to tackle the role for real. Australian Conveyancer sat down with Dunn to hear about the many challenges facing lawyers in Queensland and his plans for practical advice and guidance for the industry.

Queensland Law Society chief executive Matt Dunn.

DAN PELED

PHOTO:

AUSTRALIAN CONVEYANCER: How did you get into the law and conveyancing?

MATT DUNN: My main interest was in computers and technical disciplines. A maths teacher said I should do engineering and law – stuff that we’re going to need in the future. But in my first year at law school, we had a lovely Canadian professor who got us to look at the Eddie Mabo case. It was the first time I’d ever even read a legal decision. It fascinated me. It was amazing to study.

AC: What were the early days of your career like?

MD: I worked for the government, then overseas for a while in personal injuries, then back to Australia and I started in intellectual property, which brought that technology work to the law. Then I came to the Queensland Law Society where I was involved in policy work. One of the first committees was the property law committee, which was primarily interested in conveyancing. Again, it was like that initial incredible Mabo experience.

AC: What did you like about that aspect of the work you were doing?

MD: I had had no experience of property conveyancing, particularly in Queensland, no real connection to that. Then to suddenly I found this interesting, nuanced field in the world of property where there are so many layers, there’s a lot to learn and you’re never really finished. There were some fabulous practitioners working on our committee with decades of experience who were real leaders. The depth of their experience and knowledge was infectious. There’s always something new to learn. There’s always a development in property and in conveyancing particularly. There’s always some new grand scheme to do something useful, bad or indifferent. That’s always an interesting and wonderful thing. It’s great because it doesn’t stay static. It keeps churning –probably to the chagrin of many who have to keep up. But ultimately, it’s always fresh. >>

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

AC: Any memorable issues you tackled in that space?

MD: One great leap forward was one when Canberra decided we were going to put environmental stars for residential houses like they have for commercial buildings. They used a house in Melbourne as the model, so there were stars for insulation and bricks. That was a good model for Victoria. But how does that work for a Queenslander where you’ve got a single skin and you’re up on stilts. There’s no point having insulation because it’s a design built to dissipate heat, not to insulate it like the Victorian designs. Happily, they gave up once we said it doesn’t work for anything in the tropics.

AC: What are you most focused on as a CEO of QLS?

MD: We’re running a major strategic planning process mapping our vision and priorities for the next five years. It’s a happy coincidence that I start the job and map out the next five years. One of the key things is investing in practical assistance, guidance and support for our members, particularly the legal practices working through a lot of compliance burdens. We want to make sure practices are sustainable and can endure and thrive. There are many lawyers out there who are really great at doing law who probably need a little help with the business side because they’re so busy. There’s a big, important job for us to do, doing more in that space.

AC: You were acting CEO for a while before Rolf Moses took over. Now you have the top job. How does that feel?

MD: As an acting CEO, you’re accountable for things, but you’re kind of not – whereas as the appointed CEO you ultimately have to take responsibility for things. It’s real.

AC: Can you unpack some of the emerging issues that will impact on your members in the near future?

MD: A few things are kicking around now that are going to have quite a significant impact on the property sector, not just in Queensland but also across the country. In terms of government policy here in Queensland, we are moving to even more of a disclosure regime. The Property Law Act updates the foundational elements of our property practice structures. It’s not radically changing things, but it is adding several new provisions that deal with disasters,

“There’s not enough investment in social housing. That pushes the vulnerable into private rentals.”

Matt Dunn

for example. If there’s a disaster with a cyclone, there’s the opportunity from a statutory point of view to kind of hold time in abeyance to allow people to deal with the disaster and then start again, which is good. That also brings the vendor disclosure regime where a vendor will need to provide the buyer with more information about the property and what they know about the property. That’s going to be a very big change to the way we do contract formation. Contracts in Queensland have the offer for a property in a full contract that’s capable of acceptance. So the negotiation happens with contractual documents, which is very different to some of the other states where there is a deal done at the beginning and then there’s work done on due diligence. Eventually the exchange happens and then settlement happens. Whereas in Queensland it

happens the other way around. The contract is first, then the due diligence and then eventually the settlement occurs. So, it’s going to really change that contract formation process. That’s a profound impact.

AC: There’s a lot going on in the cyber security space, isn’t there?

MD: It is already having quite an impact, but we’ll have even more as governments take more and more measures to try and deal with cybercrime and cyber fraud –which is really huge as an issue here in Queensland. Our professional insurer has their requirement to read out loud and read back account details. That is always a bit of added burden for law practices. But it is an effective tool stopping claims, picking up frauds and things that have

gone wrong. Hopefully the move in the banking system to the new pay ID might be a way of being able to try and marry up both the identity and the bank account details. The fact that we’ve had a banking system based just on numbers and not on a name or an identity for a very long time has meant that this structural weakness is being exploited by cyber criminals.

AC: What about artificial intelligence?

MD: We’re not yet sure how that’s going to change things. If you could ever get to the point where you had a generative AI tool that was creating a smart contract on the blockchain, then maybe the entire process of conveyancing and the sale of property could end up being automated – from one end to the other. I don’t know that that’s probably the best result for people.

AC: I also know you’re facing issues with anti-money laundering. Can you talk about that?

MD: Probably the biggest issue is Tranche 2 of the antimoney laundering, counterterrorism financing reforms. Both the contract formation element and negotiation for sale would catch a lot of real estate agents and legal practitioners as well. You’ve got to do all sorts of things, including make reports on suspicious matters to the regulator and not tip off your clients that you’ve dropped on them to the regulator. That will be quite a big issue. In the conveyancing space, it will force us to ask a lot more questions about clients and do a lot more due diligence than we’ve ever done – really understanding where the client’s money is coming from. Asking lots of questions will be uncomfortable and, in some cases, not met well by clients.

It is going to be a really big and difficult transition for the profession to make – and cost a lot too, because that will be a lot of additional work that will need to be done and it’s got to be paid for somehow.

AC: Where is Queensland’s property market right now, and what are your thoughts on the federal government’s plan for 1.2 million homes by 2029?

MD: What our members tell us is that the highs of COVID are over. Interstate migration into Queensland is keeping the market resilient. But we’re not anywhere near the highs of the COVID years. It’s kind of easy for the federal government to have an aspirational target but >>

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

harder to deliver on the ground. One thing we do know is that we need more supply, especially in the conurban centres, especially in south-east Queensland where there is such a migration. There’s a need for a lot more development, a lot more building to sort of release some of the pressure that’s built up – especially in the rental market.

Making it happen is not as easy as having a policy about making it happen. There are a lot of expensive labour and supply chain constraints. But even if half that program is half successful, that’s a real benefit. Even if it’s a quarter successful, it will still be better than not doing anything.

AC: Property seems to have become a political football. Is it something that is occupying your mind in the work that you’re doing?

MD: Rental availability and affordability is an issue driving a lot of the discourse here in Queensland, especially with the upcoming state election. Housing affordability and particularly rental affordability is one of those hot button issues. From a policy perspective it’s a big issue – and it’s also got a lot of tentacles in flow.

Folks not in the purchase market for property because it’s very expensive or because they haven’t got the resources for deposits or other various things end up in the rental market.

There’s not enough investment in social housing. That pushes a lot of vulnerable and marginal people into the private rental market which then compounds rental market issues. Adding absentee investors to the limited number of properties worsens this even more. Then there are those empty properties not being used in the market – warehousing capital in a safe way for the capital growth. Then we’ve got the short-term rental Airbnb that takes traditional rental properties out of the market, particularly on the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast. There’s always tension between people trying to get reasonably medium-term leasing properties and then the short-term holiday letting kind of properties which are all in the one place in the one set of buildings.

It’s a soup that creates a lot of tension. It’s hard for government to solve these types of problems, especially with the spending on infrastructure and social housing that is needed. Perhaps it’s easier to make legislative and

policy changes in the private rental market than to invest in social housing.

It’s great for those who own property when property values keep increasing reasonably rapidly, but the problem with that is it makes it very difficult for people to make that jump. You end up with a two-speed kind of economy. For many, it means having to move 20 kilometres away from the major cities’ CBDs to the fringes with very long commutes – or changing their lives completely. But even the prices of those regional centres have increased. It’s more difficult than just moving to Toowoomba because you have got to get a job in Toowoomba, or a job in Bundaberg, or in Wollongong, or in Newcastle, or in Bendigo.

AC: You lived in the UK for a time. Do you think there are any lessons to be learned from their property experience?

MD: It’s a different kind of property market. Everyone would start with a one-bed apartment and do it up as much as you could. Then after a few years you’d sell that and you’d get two-bed, hold that again for a bit and then you’d probably try and get something that was semidetached – maybe two up, two down. Then you jump up to hopefully a larger, maybe even a detached home.

So it was a real ladder. It took time and effort and energy, and years to jump up with little increments. But I think in modern Australia people are sort of looking at four-bedroom, two bathroom houses from the beginning. That’s what we want rather than starting small and building up over decades. Maybe my kids might end up having to do that to get into those kinds of properties. It’s not just going to be the Forever House first and then live in it forever. It’s going to be a process.

AC: Could conveyancing be carried out by other qualified professionals apart from lawyers in Queensland.

MD: This was the interesting question at the end, wasn’t it? Look, I’m the CEO of a legal professional association. I have the view of my membership and from the point of view of where I work and where I come from.

But the interesting issue of who should do conveyancing is that sometimes conveyancing is transactional, sometimes it’s mechanical and sometimes it’s not. There are elements to every conveyancing file which are very methodical and are very transactional.

And then there are parts that are more complicated and the parts which involve judgment and knowledge. So doing conveyancing well is about more than just ordering searches.

It’s getting the searches back, really understanding what those results mean and then being able to advise the client about what the impact of that is for them.

That involves skill and discretion, energy and effort.

Lawyers are best place to give legal advice, I would suggest, because that’s what they’re trained to do.

So that aspect of it is really quite important. And the other part, particularly here in Queensland, is that our conveyancing regime is a bit different to some of the other states.

Generally we run on maybe 30-day, maybe 45 if you’re lucky, settlements on residential properties. And it’s also got a lot of complexity. Government places a lot of obligations and bits and pieces into that process, so there are a lot of steps. There are a lot of ways to get things wrong, and there are a lot of ways to miss things. So from that point of view, I’d say lawyers are well placed to be able to advise the clients about the impact on their property, advise them about this complexity, what it means and what all of these different moving parts are –particularly with our vendor disclosure regime coming. Really being able to translate what that means and advise a client about is one of those things I know will be an issue with real estate agents.

Inevitably, the buyer’s going to say, This easement that’s here. What’s that about? What does that mean?

The agents are going to have a choice then about, are they going to try to explain that to the potential buyer?

If explanation about the legal effect of an easement is wrong that the buyer relies on and suffers a whole lot of loss and detriment as a result, then they’ll sue the real estate agent at the end of it. It’s tricky.

So my perspective and my hope is that our lawyers can do what they’re good at, which is legal advice work.

More than transactional work, actually giving people good advice about what the contracts mean, what the properties mean, what the results mean.

So that buyers are informed.

The value of that is, people who are more informed in the conveyancing process tend to want to terminate less because they know what they’re buying and why they’re buying it and what their options are.

Why Aussies are moving out

Stories: MELISSA IARIA

LEWIS PANTHER

From inner-city buzz to the ’burbs and beyond: Reimagining the great Australian dream

Outer suburbs that ring Australian capital cities are home to the country’s record population growth.

Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show a record 517,200 people, added to the rolls of the nation’s state capitals.

The biggest increases over the course of the 202223 financial year were in Melbourne and Sydney – up by 167,500 and 146,700 respectively. With Perth and Brisbane absorbing another 188,000 people, these four cities had their largest annual population growth since records began in 1971.

Pointedly, the ABS notes the largest growth areas “were mainly in outer-suburban parts of the capital cities, where population growth was driven by net internal migration gains”. >>

National Growth Areas

Alliance chief executive

Bronwen Clark says: people are heading to the city outskirts in their droves.

“People are moving there in droves, it hasn’t slowed down at all.”

Bronwen Clark

FROM PAGE 13

It is a pattern that is familiar to Bronwen Clark, chief executive of the National Growth Areas Alliance, which represents dozens of councils in areas that circle metropolitan Australia.

“People are moving there in droves, it hasn’t slowed down at all,” she says.

“Our members all have population growth rates generally above 3 per cent per annum and the national average is 1.2 per cent per annum. Some of them are up to 8 or 9 per cent per annum.”

Top of the growth list is the Rockbank-Mount Cottrell area to the west of Melbourne, which grew by 4,300 people.

There is a similar picture in western Sydney with the Marsden Park-Shanes Park in Blacktown growing by 3,900 people. Boronia Heights-Park Ridge in Logan saw an influx of 2000 people to the Queensland hotspot.

Perth had the highest growth rate, climbing 3.6 per cent – with property prices following an even steeper trajectory.

The overall price increase of houses and units, according to CoreLogic, has jumped by 56 per cent since the onset of COVID, jumping $252,000 higher in just four years.

But what’s driving these increases? What does it mean for the industry over the next five years?

How are these suburbs handling the pressure on infrastructure?

Clearly housing is front and centre of the political agenda with elections around the corner. And the grand plans outlined in the federal budget deserve more than a little scrutiny – especially as those aims to build 1.2 million “new, well-located homes” by 2029 would be the “equivalent of adding a city around the size of Brisbane to Australia’s housing supply”.

Unsurprisingly, question marks and criticism have been circling about the scale of the $32 billion plan.

Here in Australian Conveyancer our latest special report delves into the data with the insights of experts to guide you through the nation’s shifting housing landscape.

The 1.2 million

homes plan

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says: ‘not enough has been done to address the housing supply’.

PHOTO: LUKAS COCH

The National Cabinet has agreed to an ambitious national target to build 1.2 million new well-located homes over the five years to 2029.

This will add an extra 200,000 new homes to the original National Housing Accord target of 1 million agreed by states and territories last year.

The Commonwealth has also pledged $3.5 billion in incentives to the states to make the necessary changes so it can happen, in order to boost housing supply and affordability.

Under the performance-based funding, states and territories that achieve more than their share of the 1-million-home target will receive $15,000 for each home built in well-located areas, which are close to existing public transport, services and jobs.

The payments start flowing from 2028, and kick in when the housing is delivered.

The incentives also encourage local and state governments to kick-start housing supply, targeting things like essential services, amenities and planning.

In addition, the National Cabinet has agreed to a national planning reform blueprint, which will include measures like planning, zoning and land release to improve housing supply.

The blueprint will also update state and local plans to reflect housing supply targets, promote medium and high density housing in established areas close to existing services, and streamline the approvals process.

Unveiling the plan in August last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the plan was ambitious, but achievable.

“[The states] know this is a necessary reform and that not enough has been done in the past to address housing supply,” he said.

While the federal government does not have control of land release, zonings and approvals, the incentives would drive the states to act faster, he said.

“There are limits to what the Commonwealth can do. What we can do is indicate our support for those jurisdictions who are putting their shoulder to the wheel to increase housing supply and that’s precisely what we’ve done.”

NSW has pledged to deliver 377,000 new well-located homes across the state by 2029, while Victoria has a target to build 800,000 homes over the next decade. Queensland boldly plans to deliver a million new homes by 2046.

As part of efforts to get the build underway, the government is also putting up $90 million to boost the number of construction workers, including 20,000 new fee-free places.

GETTING OUT OF TOWN

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The rise and rise of the city ‘fringe dwellers’

Growth on the urban fringes has continued “unabated” and should not be ignored in favour of creating higher-density housing closer to the city, according to a group representing outer metropolitan councils.

The National Growth Areas Alliance fears the government’s push for “well-located” housing close to jobs and services may be at the cost of ignoring the urban fringes.

“I’m tired of a bit of a value judgment, almost, on greenfield sites because people do want to live there. People are moving there in droves, it hasn’t slowed down at all,” chief executive Bronwen Clark says.

“In capital cities, there’s still about 25 years’ worth of land and development on the table.

“We’re really concerned that the government focus on what they’re calling ‘well located’ means they’re just going to leave outer suburban people in not well located areas and instead throw all their money towards increasing public transport, for example, where public transport already exists.”

The alliance represents 5 million people living in Australia’s outer metropolitan areas. Clark says a move to the city fringes is a different dynamic than a move to the regions, which are established with services.

“The levels of residential development have just been growing every year for about 30 years. Our members all have population growth rates generally above 3 per cent per annum and the national average is 1.2 per cent per annum. Some of them are up to 8 or 9 per cent per annum,” she says.

“The crux of our alliance is trying to convince state and federal governments to invest where people are actually moving to.

“When people move to a greenfields development on the urban fringe there are no medical and education services, there is no public transport.”

However, Clark says research is clear people want their own home on their own block of land in suburbia.

“Australia’s not going to stop growing population-wise, so we also need to actually make areas currently not seen as well located, into well located. We need roads, public transport, schools, hospitals, employment centres. All those things that exist already where the government wants to increase density.”

CoreLogic’s Eliza Owen says the shift from inner city to outer fringes may be reflected in a recent acceleration in rental values, which on average have been strongest about 30 to 40 km from city centres.

“That’s one indicator of migration, and rental demand is usually relatively responsive to migration trends,” she says.

Research by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council – which independently advises the federal government – shows workers are increasingly living further from their workplace. It associates this with a lack of affordable housing in cities.

The council recognises the need for an “ambitious” target of 1.2 million homes, but its six-year forecast predicts a shortfall of 39,000 dwellings, based on new demand versus new supply.

Its May report calls for more well-located housing amid worsening affordability and low supply.

Meanwhile, the Urban Development Institute of Australia says the government’s target of 1.2 million homes is a “big task”.

President Col Dutton says Australia is currently building about 170,000 dwellings in a standard year, 100,000 of which are greenfield sites.

“To accelerate from 170,000 to 240,000 a year from July is a big, big task,” he says.

To hit the target, Dutton says planning approvals and infrastructure will need to be coordinated, and building costs need to stack up.

He believes the $3 billion in federal incentives to the states should focus “at the very front” of the process to reduce bottlenecks when planning new supply.

While the government’s aim is to create “well located” homes in established areas where services and jobs already exist, this is also where, historically, it’s more costly to develop, and community opposition to development can be a factor, Dutton says.

“Building has increased, in some locations, by over 50 per cent in cost,” he says.

“In the past couple of years, with the cost of construction and anything going vertical – and cost of borrowing money to actually develop it – it’s really put a choke on the amount of ‘missing middle’ or infill development that can be developed.”

“I’m tired of a value judgment, almost, on greenfield sites because people do want to live there. People are moving there in droves.”

Bronwen Clark

Peter Conroy 20

MARSDEN PARK

Welcome to Boom Town

“We’ve been at the front line of urban growth for 30 years, so we’ve got systems and processes that have evolved over time to deal with that ongoing level of growth.”

The population of Marsden Park-Shanes Park has boomed. The population in 2017 was just 2837, but within six years soared to 23,778, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show.

The NSW government planned the suburb as part of a priority growth area on the north west urban edge.

“Planning for the development we’re seeing now occurred between 2005 and 2010,” explains Blacktown City Council city planning director, Peter Conroy.

“It was to facilitate and direct the expansion of metropolitan Sydney into two corridors – the North West corridor and the South West corridor.”

CoreLogic May 2024 data shows the median home value for family-friendly Marsden Park-Shanes Park is $1.199 million, a 71 per cent jump in five years.

Despite the population surge, major changes to city planning procedures were not required, Conroy says.

“We’ve been at the front line of urban growth for 30 years, so we’ve got systems and processes that have evolved over time to deal with that ongoing level of growth. This is pretty much business as usual for us,” he says.

The council splits its planning approvals process into two parts: one focusing on small scale developments like single dwellings, and the other on bigger, more complex developments.

“With the big complex applications, there’s less of them, but they take longer to process,” Mr Conroy adds.

On average, a single dwelling development application takes an average 35 days for approval, while a larger, more complex application may take 200 days.

In the 2023-24 financial year to date, 700 development

applications were approved, similar to 780 the previous financial year. Another 700 are forecast in the next year.

Infrastructure within the council’s responsibility –including local roads, parks and recreational facilities – is built as development occurs using developers’ contributions, Conroy says.

The state funds other infrastructure, including railways and main roads, schools and hospitals, but the council has no control over the timeline.

“There’ve been problems with the timeliness of infrastructure historically. The current government is having to catch up on schools,” Mr Conroy says.

While the current government recently announced investment in a new local hospital, and it and its predecessor have worked on upgrading a major thorough-

fare, other roads have seen “no progress at all”, he says.

The infrastructure lag means locals must rely on private cars for transport. “That means most households rely on two cars, and the roads are very congested, and it takes a long time to do things,” Conroy says.

CoreLogic’s head of Australian research, Eliza Owen, says Marsden Park-Shanes Park’s growth has presumably been driven by the movement of people from inner Sydney.

“Home purchases in the Marsden Park - Shanes Park area were the kinds of house and land package deals that peaked in 2021, which would’ve coincided with the Home Builder Scheme as well, so it would’ve incentivised a lot of purchases,” she said.

“From a migration perspective, I’d anticipate migration has peaked because home sales have peaked.”

MARSDEN PARK THE RACE TO THE WEST

1 Located 50 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, Marsden Park-Shanes Park has experienced huge growth.

2 Falling within the North West Growth Area, it’s one of two primary urban fringe growth areas planned by the NSW government.

3

In 2017 the population was 2837, but by 2022-23 soared to 23,778, ABS figures show.

4 The median home value for familyfriendly Marsden Park-Shanes Park is $1.199 million, up 6.5 per cent over the past year, according to CoreLogic data as at May 2024. This represents a 24 per cent jump over three years, and 71 per cent over five years.

New housing construction in Marsden Park, west of Sydney.

PHOTO: DAN HIMBRECHTS

First-home concession carrot

First-home buyers can benefit from a range of assistance programs, depending on which state they are in.

NSW Eligible first-home buyers who buy a property for $800,000 or less won’t pay any stamp duty and those who buy a property worth up to $1 million will pay a reduced rate.

If you buy vacant land to build a house on, there will be no transfer duty if it costs $350,000 or less. For vacant land valued between $350,000 and $450,000, a discounted rate applies.

First-home buyers who build a new home or purchase a brand new or substantially renovated property can also receive a $10,000 grant if it’s valued below $600,000, or under $750,000 for a home and land package.

Stamp duty on a $750,000 home: $0

VIC In Victoria, stamp duty is waived if you’re a first-home buyer and buying a house for $600,000 or less. A discount is available for homes under $750,000

If you buy off the plan, you pay stamp duty only on the land the property is sitting on.

A $10,000 First Home Owner Grant is also available when you buy or build your first new home for $750,000 or less.

Victorians with a 5 per cent deposit can also enter home ownership via a shared equity scheme with the state government, which can contribute up to 25 per cent of the purchase price in exchange for an equivalent share in the property.

Stamp duty on a $750,000 home: $40,070

QLD: Eligible first-time home buyers can access a $30,000 grant towards buying or building a new home valued under $750,000.

They will pay no duty on homes valued up to $700,000 and receive a partial concession up to $800,000.

Vacant land up to $350,000 will be duty free, while concessions apply up to $500,000

Stamp duty on a $750,000 home: $10,925

So, what does all this mean for conveyancers?

The federal government’s target to build 1.2 million homes in five years is too ambitious, conveyancers around the country believe.

George Sourris, from Brisbane conveyancing firm Empire Legal, thinks the federal plan is a stretch “unless some major fires get lit under some people in government fast”.

“I don’t know how it’s going to be possible, because we’ve got a huge tradie shortage as well, and they’re already busy,” he says.

“It’s one thing to say, we’re going to build 1.2 million homes, but we’re already behind.”

Brisbane added over 80,000 people during 2022-23, a growth rate of 3.1 per cent, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal.

The growth corridor of Boronia HeightsPark Ridge in Logan grew the most.

Sourris says house hunters must go further out until it’s affordable.

“If they keep pushing people further out, they need to have more services in these more ‘regional areas’ like hospitals and shopping centres.”

Government concessions to developers could help drive higher density housing, while opening up more land could enable more home construction, he says.

Mr Sourris predicts conveyancers will become even busier if the shift continues outwards.

“Queensland’s got the highest interstate migration in the country – we’re busier every week. For us, it’s fine but for the individuals on the other side of the transactions, between cost of living and not being able to find a place, it’s a terrible experience.”

Australian Institute of Conveyancers Victoria treasurer Lydia Maric has witnessed home buyers moving to the fringes, but

says some have decided to return closer in, frustrated by a lack of services. “There is no infrastructure. They do not want to be sitting in their cars for an hour to get out of their suburb.” Thus far, city planners have failed to accommodate the needs of the population shift, she says.

Meanwhile developers are being hindered by red tape, as public housing accommodation sits vacant.

Maric does not believe the federal plan of 1.2 million homes within five years is achievable.

“It’s overestimated if they can think they can achieve anywhere from 200,000, 250,000 homes a year,” she says.

“You’re still going to be building where probably someone doesn’t want to go.”

Chris Tyler, the Australian Institute of Conveyancers NSW chief executive, believes the government ambition seems like a “very big stretch target”.

If it plays out, it will likely boost demand for conveyancers. However, any continued shift of people to the metro fringes does not necessarily mean more conveyancers will be needed in those areas.

While it’s “very handy” to have members on the ground with local knowledge, Tyler says conveyancing is very much now a digital process.

However, with many AIC members sole or smaller practitioners, he sees room for growth: “I think conveyancing firms have to get bigger, develop more ability to transact on larger volumes and have infrastructure in place to manage all the risks associated with that.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government thinks his plan can be achieved: “We want to pursue it. We have a financial incentive for states and territories to do it, and we’re working constructively.”

Romancing the tree changers

CITY v COUNTRY How population has shifted

JUNE 2003 JUNE 2013 JUNE 2023

TOTAL POPULATION 19.8m 23.3m 26.9m

REGIONS 7.1m 8m 9m

Are they expecting too much from life in the bush?

By STEPHANIE GARDINER in Orange

Country roads are increasingly taking city slickers to their new homes.

But the great migration to Australia’s regions is not all it is cracked up to be for rural councils who are scrambling to meet the high expectations of tree changers.

Country councils have told a federal inquiry into local government funding they are struggling to provide services like early education, healthcare and aged care even as extra ratepayers move from the cities.

The growing population in the Berrigan shire, on the Murray River, is set to increase by more than 30 per cent in the next decade.

“Urban drift, where people from highly populated city areas move to more rural settings ... means those new residents have higher expectations of service delivery than has traditionally been the case,” the council’s submission to the inquiry said.

The region’s forecast population will increase the rate base by $1 million, but the council says it will need $50 million for basic infrastructure like water and sewerage.

“Population growth ... is in fact a negative sum outcome,” the council said in its submission published this week.

The parliamentary inquiry was established in March to examine the financial sustainability of local councils, along with their evolving obligations.

Several submissions laid bare the difficulties faced by rural councils due to apparent cost shifting from state and federal governments, unfair rate-pegging limits and short-term grants.

Coorong District Council, in South Australia, is responsible for a 2000- kilometre road network, but only has 3500 ratepayers to fund it.

“Each ratepayer is responsible for half a kilometre of road,” the council said.

Port Hedland, in Western Australia’s Pilbara

region, is also balancing the need for new residents with inadequate infrastructure.

The council said it was having to prop up services where public and private investment had failed.

Ratepayers will fork out $40 million over five years to build a unit block for essential workers, along with $3 million to expand a childcare centre.

“Neither of these examples are considered part of the role of local government; however, if the town fails to act ... this has a negative impact on our community, leading to reductions in the residential population and an increase on the reliance of fly-in,-fly-out workers,” its submission said.

The Australian Local Government Association said regional councils had to step in to provide essential services where markets failed, often at short notice with limited staff.

The national body is calling on the federal government to increase untied funding to at least 1 per cent of tax revenue.

The west is still the best

NSW

As our special report identifies, Sydneysiders are still heading west in droves as the capital retains the unaffordability crown.

The family-friendly enclave that is 49km from the CBD is the go-to postcode for the third month in a row, according to triSearch sales data.

First-home buyer activity

It is remarkable to think that Marsden Park was home to less than 2,900, dwellings in 2017.

And at the rate it’s growing, “Park Central” will reach the 30,000 mark before too long.

Close-by Rouse Hill and Blacktown also feature in the list of the top 10 hottest home-buying suburbs. Clearly families are taking advantage of either being able to work from home or are making the lengthy commute to work as they juggle the price-lifestyle equation.

Outside the attractive north-west Sydney suburbs, Wyong is maintaining a high place in the table, as it has done every month since last October. Good train links to both Newcastle and Sydney are ensuring this is a favourite with Central Coast commuters. Median house prices around $825,000 are a strong driver for those able to WFH or who are prepared to make the commute

Camden and Campbelltown are at fourth and fifth on the table. Again, the prohibitive cost of housing closer to central Sydney is the attraction here.

Further north, Maitland and Thornton make it to the list with buoyant sales.

Cost-of-living pressures look like they are having a consistent impact on the first-time buyer market with the slowdown we initially saw in April continuing.

Time

The average time a property spends in market before being sold, compared to the same time last year, including advertising.

How many first-home buyers entered the market in May 2024, compared to same time last year.

Overseas investment

Percentage of all properties sales recorded by triSearch.

Residents of which countries invested in the Australian property market for the first time in May 2024.

Marsden

City living and a cosmopolitan vibe attracts buyers

VICTORIA

Melbourne retains the top spot for the second month in a row along with its long-standing place as one of the hottest areas in which to live.

The fact that Southbank is in second place, up from third in May, reinforces the attractiveness of CBD living for Victorians. With South Yarra and Richmond continuing to command a place in the hottest suburbs table, it shows that having shopping, sport and entertainment on the doorstep is a big draw for home buyers.

Away from central Melbourne, Tarneit reverses its slide down the table, moving back up to third place after slipping down to sixth. The suburb – located 25km out of town, known for affordability, space and a reasonable commute – had topped the table at the beginning of the year.

Nearby Werribee and Truganina also maintain their place in the table of the hottest suburbs.

Home buyers looking to the train to take the strain out of commuting

QUEENSLAND

Pimpama the top o second month, keeping Morayfield at bay. It also highlights a tale of two cities as Queenslanders look for affordable housing away from the inflated metropolitan prices.

Pimpana sits firmly in the commuter belt, 60km south of the capital, nestled between the M1 motorway and sands of the Gold Coast And it could become an even better option when construction of the town’s new railway station is completed later this year.

To the north, the Morayfield drawcard looks to be infectious with Caboolture also maintaining its long-running high-ranking position in the hottest suburbs table.

But is nearby Deception Bay about to shed its best kept secret tag after making its debut in the table?

With a 40-minute commute to the Brisbane CBD, the peaceful bayside suburb is popular for its extensive walkways and cycle paths that are located on its foreshore. But for how long?

Conveyancers: be your best selves

When it comes to life’s most stressful events, buying a house is up there. That is why a customer’s experience with their conveyancer is all the more important.

Conveyancing is a competitive industry, but guiding your client through the process with minimal stress, clear transparency and efficiency, can give you that competitive edge.

The term customer experience, also known as CX, defines the interactions and experiences your customer has with your business, from first contact through to transaction completion.

Offering the right experience throughout the entire customer journey isn’t just about diligently ticking off all the boxes during the conveyance – it’s also about guiding your client through their property journey.

These tips can help conveyancers enhance the customer experience:

EMPATHISE WITH THE EXPERIENCE

Empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. A property transaction can involve great stress and you’ll help alleviate your client’s anxiety if you present yourself as someone who can help guide and work with them through any issues. Encourage key staff to do the same. Being able to affirm a customer’s feelings and understand their point of view is worth the effort. It helps you understand what they’re saying and positions you to better solve their problems. It also builds better customer relations, and businesses thrive when they connect to their customers.

WHAT ARE YOUR CLIENT’S PAIN POINTS?

If your client is dealing with their first property transaction, they will obviously feel some stress and be concerned as to the safety of transacting at such a high value. Educating them through your process, communicating all sensitive information and sharing documents through the secure portal, Communicate – available through Conveyancing practice management software triConvey – will help avoid any potential fraud.

LISTEN, AND ASK YOUR CUSTOMERS QUESTIONS

When it comes to customer service, communication, and particularly listening, is key. Being able to actively listen to your customers and respond appropriately and reassuringly will set you apart from competitors. Understand that your clients are unfamiliar with the conveyancing process and may have many questions. While you know the correct, safe and appropriate steps to take, your client may need reassurance.