While reports say Australia's housing market is in crisis, recent data reveals that Ipswich remains to be a hot spot and a great market for investors and first-time homebuyers.
According to REIQ Rental Report, as per The Queensland Times, vacancy rate in Ipswich has eased from 1.3 percent to 2.5 percent in the last quarter. REIQ chief Antonia Mercorella said, "Ipswich has been a very good market for investors, with good rental returns of up to 6% in some cases."
"It is clear the demand for rental accommodation is steady and the population growth is driving that demand," Mercorella added.
Meanwhile, developer AVJennings said the housing sector in Australia is in crisis because of the long-term undersupply of residential properties. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia's oldest housing developer is the first one to release its earnings report for six months to December 2015 wherein the company saw a 39.6 percent increase in net profit to $16.5 million.
"You can see for the best part of 15 years ... there has been a continuing undersupply of residential in Australia. You may recall that a couple of years ago, the then federal treasurer Joe Hockey actually made the comment that Australia has a housing crisis. That is absolutely true," said Peter Summers, AVJennings chief executive.
"There is no doubt that was the position then and remains the position now. The Australian residential market in its purest sense remains under supplied."
To end the housing crisis in the country, Yahoo! Finance said the government needs to invest in new social housing and introduce tax reforms. Summers shared the same sentiment saying that tax reforms such as land tax and stamp duty will address the affordability issue in the residential sector. According to Yahoo, such move will push down house prices and so expectedly will be met with strong opposition.
