By Andrew Mackinnon
Last updated: 16th August, 2023
High house prices in Australia are caused by…
> non-white immigration into Australia, which causes the number of people living in Australia to increase and causes demand for residential properties in Australia in all forms, including houses, units and land, to increase, thereby causing house prices to increase.
Non-white immigrants to Australia generally don’t buy residential properties in Australia as soon as they arrive. It generally takes time for them to get their finances in order and save up a deposit in order to buy residential properties in Australia. There is generally a lag, often of years, between non-white immigrants to Australia arriving in Australia and demand for the purchase of residential properties in Australia in all forms, including houses, units and land, increasing as a result of their arrival in Australia.
Non-white immigration into Australia also provides a strong stream of tenants to create demand for residential rental properties in Australia, so that residential property investors can confidently earn rental income from their residential properties in Australia. Non-white immigration into Australia leads to an increase in demand for residential rental properties in Australia and an increase in rents. In the 1990s and 2000s, passive income in the form of rents from residential investment properties in Australia, being income earned without working for it, was marketed by the residential property industry in Australia as the holy grail of income. Australia’s economy has been built around this concept of passive income ever since.
Non-white immigration into Australia should be banned.
> allowing non-citizens of Australia to purchase and own residential properties in Australia.
That the Australian federal government has not banned non-citizens of Australia from purchasing and owning residential properties in Australia shows that the Australian federal government does not govern exclusively for citizens of Australia but for non-citizens of Australia also, of whom there are purportedly more than 8 billion (i.e. 8,000 billion). Allowing non-citizens of Australia to purchase and own residential properties in Australia causes the number of people who want to purchase and own residential properties in Australia to increase and causes demand for housing to increase, thereby causing house prices to increase.
Allowing non-citizens of Australia to purchase and own residential properties in Australia should be banned.
> bank lending to residential property investors for residential investment properties in Australia.
This includes bank lending to residential property investors who are using their superannuation in order to fund part of the purchase price of residential investment properties in Australia. The very definition of investment entails purchasing an asset out of savings. No bank in Australia should be allowed to lend for the purpose of the borrower purchasing an asset for investment with the objective of making a capital gain over time, such as real estate, shares, precious metals, coins, antiques or art. Borrowing for such a purchase is not investment. It is speculation. However, if such a purchase is financed out of existing savings, rather than borrowings, then it can correctly be called an “investment”.
Without bank lending to residential property investors, the overwhelming majority of residential property investors would not be able to afford to buy residential investment properties in Australia. Bank lending to residential property investors therefore makes purchasing residential investment properties in Australia more affordable for residential property investors and causes demand for residential investment properties in Australia from residential property investors to increase, thereby causing house prices in Australia to increase.
Bank lending to residential property investors for residential investment properties in Australia should be banned.
> negative gearing, which increases demand for residential property in Australia by illegally allowing the tax deductibility of residential investment property losses against other sources of income, such as salaries and wages, even though it is not necessary to incur those losses in order to earn those other sources of income.
A bedrock principle of income tax law in Australia has always been that deductions against income must be expenses that were necessarily incurred in order to earn that income. The deductibility of residential investment property losses against other sources of income violates this principle.
Without negative gearing, the overwhelming majority of residential property investors would not be able to afford to meet the repayments required by the mortgages they took out to purchase their residential investment properties in Australia and therefore would not be able to purchase their residential investment properties in Australia. Negative gearing therefore makes purchasing residential investment properties in Australia more affordable for residential property investors and causes demand for residential investment properties in Australia from residential property investors to increase, thereby causing house prices in Australia to increase.
Negative gearing should be banned.