Local buyers could lose out from Budget 2017 housing policies

The Australian Financial Review (AFR)

Housing policies announced in Tuesday’s budget will do nothing for local buyers and could even hurt them, according to CoreLogic senior research analyst Cameron Kusher. The “50 per cent rule” could even stop developers from mass producing “tiny apartments” as seen in parts of Melbourne so that they focus more on apartment design, CBRE Residential Projects managing director David Milton said. But Chinese Australian property website ACProperty.com.au director Esther Yong, who deals with many foreign buyers, thought the policy gave a “more worrying” signal that the market was still strong in Australia. “This will only keep them coming back,” she said.