Infrastructure the key to housing affordability

Infrastructure is the key to housing affordability in our major cities.

Infrastructure has a great connection to demand and increased dwelling prices and this is particularly the case in Sydney and Melbourne.  

However, the allocation of significant funding to infrastructure upgrades in many urban and regional areas in the 2018 Federal Budget will also have a positive impact on dwelling supply.

For example, you can build houses in the west of Sydney to increase supply, and therefore affordability, and still have great access to the CBD provided the infrastructure is good.

Population growth, job creation, an improved economy and good infrastructure would draw more people to an area and therefore increase demand for property, but this then had to be backed up with an increase in dwelling supply.

The Queensland Government was taking significant steps to grow its economy, with Brisbane in the midst of a $15 billion infrastructure boom over the next few years.

And where there is an improved economy and major infrastructure projects and developments in the works, we will see significant long-term capital growth. 

As a result, the local property market in Queensland was likely to prosper and the state would continue to attract a high number of interstate migrants in search of affordable housing and employment.

In regional NSW, the State Government has put in place a 20-year vision focusing on connectivity and water security to industry and community leaders in Bathurst and including the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund.

The goal is to promote regional development and job creation, unlocking the potential in the region by providing the infrastructure, the services and the support it needs to thrive.

It comes down to undersupply of suitable dwellings that force the prices up and makes them completely unaffordable. But that is not the case in regional NSW where house sizes and blocks are more than adequate for a growing family.

There was also an increasing trend of ‘mobile professionals’ who were prepared to work from home to maximise lifestyle and avoid the daily city commute.

About Doron Peleg is the CEO/Founder of RiseWise Property Review. He has more than 20 years’ experience in risk management including, Co-Founder of Peleg, Kessel & Co, an assurance and advisory accounting firm & Executive Manager at Westpac Banking Corporation in Sydney. www.riskwiseproperty.com.au/