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Posts Tagged ‘qld’

Queensland Property Stamp Duty

Posted by Mark Mendel in Brisbane Property News on 03 22nd, 2011

Every time we buy a property in Queensland the dreaded Stamp Duty tax is a real killer for many home buyers and investors. It doesn’t matter whether you are buying a new home or apartment, a duplex or just a piece of land, the Queensland State Government will slug you extra upon your purchase. Since 2006, the Queensland Government has collected over $12billion in stamp duty, and now there is talk of it being axed to save homebuyers tens of thousands of dollars.

When homebuyers are looking to purchase a property at around $550,000 the stamp duty payable is close to $20,000 while when purchasing a property at $900,000 the stamp duty is more than $33,000.

This isn’t something that will be fixed over night but Mr Fraser is hoping to lift the burden from Homebuyers within the next 5 years.

So if the Queensland State Government were to remove the stamp duty for property buyers, would this make property in QLD more affordable or would prices simply rise as homebuyers would have calculated this expense into their purchase already.

Warick Temby, executive director of the Queensland’s Housing Association has suggested that scrapping the stamp duty would make home ownership more affordable and allow some people to more freely between homes. Mr Temby stated that many people don’t downgrade homes as they don’t wish to be hit by the extra expense of paying stamp duty.

Ian Murry, acting Chief executive of the REIQ said “stamp duty was a disincentive for investors and scrapping the tax would help bring more rental properties on the market.”

I for one am for the scrapping of the stamp duty, however do I believe the cost will make homes more affordable, probably not. The likelihood is that homebuyers will simply use this extra saving as a way to push prices up on their emotion purchase of their new family home.

For property investors it does become a positive more as it reduces the cost base of their purchase and allows for a higher total yield on the overall purchase price of their property investment.

Do you think the QLD will remove the stamp duty tax on the transfer of property or is this just another way for the politicians to get your vote? Throwing away $3billion dollars a year in property tax simply means they are going to have to slug the people of Queensland with another tax to make up the difference.

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Flood effects on QLD coal mines

Posted by Mark Mendel in Brisbane Property News on 02 28th, 2011

Queensland’s coal sector has lost sales worth A$2,3-billion because of flooding and wet weather, the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) said last week.

There was still flood water in many mine sites weeks after the floods hit and teams were working around the clock to remove the water as quickly as possible.

The QRC estimates about 15% of the state’s coal mines are in full production, with 60% operating under restrictions and a further 25% yet to resume normal operations.

“Just as there is an urgent need to pump water out of buildings in the Brisbane CBD so they can get back to business, the state’s mines are facing the same urgent need.”

Today, the Queensland mines are operating at about 60-70 percent capacity.

The fundamentals of demand are very good – from India, China, from our traditional markets in Asia and Europe and are helping keep the mining community strong.

The CEO of the QRC, Mr Roche, said “Our biggest problem at the moment is not demand – it’s our ability to supply that demand.  “Three out of every four mines have to seek special approval to pump excess water which is hampering their ability to get back to full production.”

There are still some mines that have no rail service which is severely impacting on the mines operations and economic benefit to the state.

Although the mines have been affected, severely in some cases, this is likely to cause little impact on the prices of homes surrounding the mines where local and FIFO miners live. Within months the mines will be back up to full capacity and the demand for miners to live close to the mines will be ramped up. There may even be an increase in demand for some locations as mines decide to ramp up capacity to make up for the financial shortfall caused by the floods earlier this year.

Knowing what to look for is critical when buying a property near a mine site and now that the most recent floods have been and gone, the focus on ensuring design and development of new homes meets the current flood standards is a must.

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QLD Brisbane Floods January 2011

Posted by Mark Mendel in Brisbane Property News on 01 19th, 2011

Over the last couple of weeks, Queensland and in particular Brisbane and Ipswich, have just been through some of the most devastating floods ever. Watching it unfold as news teams broadcast images of cars being washed down streets, homes being ripped apart and families being isolated in their homes and stranded on their roof as flood waters rose was something that I hope I never have to experience. What was more amazing than watching the floods impact on the lives of people through the affected areas was the reaction of people within Queensland and the rest of Australia.

As I write this blog, Australians have donated more than $90 million in the last few days and tens of thousands of volunteers have descended on Brisbane to help with the clean up. Those whose homes have being ruined have been supported by family, friends and in many cases strangers that are helping out their fellow Australian.  It really has been a tremendous effort and I wish everyone a fast and efficient recovery.

For those that would like to help, please forward a donation to a registered organisation. The best donation point is on the QLD government website: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

This flood will not only affect the lives of those living in QLD but also all around Australia and the world. Queensland is a large producer of fruits and vegetables and now these farmers are without crops and left with damaged soil that will certainly also affect future supply. Coal prices have sky rocketed as the supply of coal from Queensland, one of the world’s largest suppliers was halted as the flood waters rose.

Once again we encourage all our readers to please assist by donating to the QLD Flood Appeal. Every dollar does help. This clean up will take 6 to 12 months to clean up but many Queenslanders will be affected for the rest of the lives. Let’s do our part and help the fellow Aussie in need. To Donate please go to the official Queensland Government website: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

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About New Apartments Brisbane

Posted by Mark Mendel in About on 08 12th, 2010

Brisbane New Apartments blog is designed to cater for all those property buyers and property investors looking to purchase a new apartment in Brisbane and throughout Queensland (QLD).

From time to time we will be posting information about new apartment developments, off the plan projects, house and land packages and property news that property buyers want to know about. We will try to keep it as relevant as possible to the QLD and Brisbane property markets.

If you are aware of a new property development that you would like us to review, please contact us.
If you would like our opinion on a major news story relating to the QLD and Brisbane property market, please contact us and we will endevaour to research and write an article to help all our readers.

For those looking to buy off the plan apartments in Brisbane or QLD, you can visit Find Investment Property, which are the largest aggregator of new property in Australia.

Thanks for visiting our page!

Mark Mendel

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