393- State and Federal Budget Policies Update ft. Tanya Steinbeck

Host Trent Fleskens welcomes UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck to discuss how recent state and federal budget policies will (or won’t) improve WA housing supply, separating meaningful initiatives from headline “pretend policies” and potential negative market impacts. Trent notes Perth listings have risen to around 5,000 but remain more than 50% below a balanced market, keeping sellers in control. They argue that while large infrastructure spending is welcome, the key constraint is workforce and delivery capacity, with competition from mining and the need for targeted skilled migration alongside apprenticeships. They highlight the Infrastructure Development Fund and Keystart’s pre-sale finance guarantee as important for apartment feasibility, criticise stamp duty as an inefficient tax (especially for first home buyers), and caution that federal negative gearing/CGT changes may shift investor demand toward new supply without increasing overall supply. They conclude delivery depends on improving approval culture and bureaucracy.