Posted on Monday, October 17th, 2011 in by Matt Garmony
The Federal Government House of Representatives passed the Labour Governments controversial carbon tax last week which includes 19 Carbon Tax bills with Prime Minister Julia Gillard stating “Today, is a significant day for Australians and the Australians of the future who want to see a better environment.” The $23 a tonne Carbon Tax will start in mid 2012 before transforming into a true Emissions Trading Scheme (ETES) in mid 2015. Although it was passed in the House of Representatives, opposition leader Mr Tony Abbott pledged on ABC radio on Wednesday “This is a pledging in blood – this tax will go”.
West Australian Premier Colin Barnett commented on the passed legislation for the Carbon Tax as being “A very flawed proposal”. “I don’t believe it will have the beneficial effects its proponents claim”. Mr Barnett commented he didn’t think the proposed Carbon Tax will bring the Australian economy to its knees, however his main objection to it is that he doesn’t think it will actually work. Coincidentally property statistics released the same day by property analysis RP Data indicated “The total value of homes sales plunged more in Western Australia than any other state or territory except Queensland over the last financial year”. A WA Business News report indicated that RP Data said “Total dwelling transaction values have fallen by 22.6% over the past financial year in WA, compared to national figures of 18.2% over the same period.”
Analysts are indicating the market maybe stabilising which is supported by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) total housing finance value which rose by 1.0% in August being the fifth consecutive month of rises in home loan approvals. The perceived market stabilisation is also supported by reduced talks about interest rate rises. The licensed valuers at Garmony Property Consultants are of the opinion that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is likely to hold off in interest rate rises for the remainder of the year due to the global uncertainty and conservative consumer sentiment, of which the general perception is that the RBA will not be doing much in the near term.
Given the above, the licensed valuers at Garmony Property Consultants are of the opinion that the residential property market may begin to stabilise with signs that it has reached the trough of the property cycle, however we are not predicting any substantial increases in the median house price in the short to medium term. Given the above, if owners are thinking of transferring their property assets into alternative entities, it may be prudent to do so in the next couple of months. Our licensed valuers at Garmony Property Consultants prepare numerous licensed property valuations in Perth and Regional Western Australia for transfer and stamp duty purposes, Capital Gains Tax purposes and superannuation purposes for a broad range of property types.