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Governments not foreigners are to blame for the shortage of affordable housing, according to the Real Estate Institute of NSW.
President Malcolm Gunning said it was wrong for governments and the media to say that foreign investors were the main cause of rising property prices and a shortage of affordable housing.
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He said the federal government’s inquiry into foreign investment would find other forces at work.
“The reason we have a shortage of property in NSW is [that there is] a convoluted planning system and a tax system that places an unfair burden on property,” he said.
“Certainly, bringing anyone extra into a stressed market is going to bring its problems, but foreign investors are not at the heart of the real issue.”
Mr Gunning said the time had come for governments to properly back first home buyers.
“Bringing back the incentives for first home buyers to purchase existing properties can do this,” he said.
“Now is not the time to point the finger at foreign investors; Australia needs them.
“Let's fix the flaws in the system that created these problems – the clunky planning laws that are slow and outdated and the overtaxing of property, rather than blaming an easy target.”
