WA increases stamp duty exemption threshold

The Western Australian government released its budget for 2024–25 on 9 May, saying that the state has allocated $82 million of the state budget to increase the stamp duty exemption threshold for FHBs to $450,000, up from $430,000.

The Western Australian government said this would support approximately 5,000 FHBs each year and would save buyers up to $15,390.

The government also said that the concessional rate threshold for stamp duty has been increased to $600,000, up from $530,000.

The median cost of buying a house in Perth is now said to be $620,000.

Other housing measures included in the budget include a $1.1 billion allocation for housing and homelessness.

The Western Australian government has allocated $144 million to deliver new housing projects amid growing concerns about housing undersupply across Australia. A further $400 million has also been allocated to expand the state’s Social and Affordable Housing Investment Fund to increase the number of new social homes to 5,000.

The state has also assigned $179 million in “maintenance investment” for the 45,000 social homes and government worker homes in the state and a further $92 million into critical homelessness services.

A new incentive scheme offering $5,000 payments to owners of vacant properties willing to offer them on the long-term rental market will also be launched, as part of a $5 million initiative to free up more rental supply.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti said: “With Western Australia’s growing population, we continue to explore every measure to boost and invest in housing supply and affordability.

“We’re addressing housing supply from all angles, increasing support for first home buyers by lifting stamp duty exemptions and concession thresholds, incentives to bring vacant homes back onto the long-term rental market, as well as significant funding for social and affordable housing and homelessness providers.

“This investment extends to our regions, with a boost for Government Regional Officer Housing, plus nearly $35 million to unlock development-ready land in Broome, Karratha and Kalgoorlie.”

The chief executive of the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA), Cath Hart, welcomed the changes to stamp duty: “We’re particularly pleased to see changes to the property price thresholds for first home buyer stamp duty exemptions to better reflect the current market conditions which was a proposal in REIWA’s Budget submission.”

Hart explained the effects of growing house prices on FHBs: “WA has seen strong property price growth over recent years which we expect will continue – this has however meant that first home buyers are not only having to pay more, but that they haven’t been able to access the stamp duty concessions which exempted purchasers from paying stamp duty on properties worth $430,000 or less, with tiered concessions on properties up to $530,000.

“This is the first time the thresholds have been amended since July 2014 and the median house price in Perth is now around $630,000 so lifting the thresholds will be a welcome change to support first home buyers in WA.”

Funding for the construction industry

Amid increased concern regarding the capacity of the construction industry to deliver on the federal government’s target to build 1.2 million homes over the next five years, the Western Australian government has allocated funding to support the industry.

In a bid to increase the capacity of Western Australia’s residential construction workforce, $85 million of Western Australia’s budget has been allocated. Included in the $85 million is $21 million to subsidise wages for a further 150 new apprentices and trainees under group training organisations.

The Western Australian government has also allocated $37 million to fund incentives for trainees to complete apprenticeships (such as milestone payments and tool allowances). The state has put aside $4 million to attract skilled migrants through the Construction Migration Office, which was created to match up skilled migrants with employers.

Hart said on the budget allocation for housing: “While there is no silver bullet to addressing the challenges WA’s housing market faces, we welcome the fact the Government has opted for incentives to boost housing supply, rather than punitive measures such as new taxes as we’ve seen in other states.”

[Related: Can the housing supply crisis be solved?]