Thriving property market encourages NSW to prepare for growth

Based on the steady infrastructure spend and a property market that continues to go from strength to strength, the NSW Budget is prepared for a continuation of economic growth, according to the Property Council of Australia.

The budget holds a number of changes designed to improve the environment of the building industry, relieving some of the pressure experienced during the recession in recent years.

"This is a budget that goes for growth – and is built on the back of a rising housing construction market," NSW Executive Director Glenn Byres said.

This success is giving NSW the ability to build infrastructure that will help with sustainable growth and productivity of the region. The increase in stamp duty revenues has given the Government an opportunity to increase its spend, and this will be furthered even more once energy asset capital is recycled.

"Rising stamp duties – from both the residential property market and commercial property transfers – underpin the budget," states Byres. "It emphasises the critical significance of the property industry – which creates one in 10 jobs in NSW and pays over $16 billion in wages to workers and their families.

The budget will cover both large-scale builds as well as as general housing, which is an applauded decision - as is the Government's pending decision to scrap mortgage duty and other taxes by 2016. 

Other spends to look forward to are increased funding for the House Acceleration Fund and Urban Activation Precincts, a higher threshold for the First Home Owners Grant and a promise to create a light rail to Paramatta.