The ACT government will raise its threshold for stamp duty exemptions on dwellings bought off-the-plan after a year in which the median unit price in the territory rose by more than 17 per cent.
Anyone who buys a new property off-the-plan for $600,000 or less will not need to pay stamp duty from April 1, which the ACT government said would save buyers up to $15,720.
The previous threshold, set in June 2020, was $500,000. The scheme was expanded to all dwelling types in June 2021, after it was first introduced as a temporary stimulus measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government was continuing to cut inefficient taxes at the entry level of the property market to make it easier for Canberrans to buy a first home or downsize.
"These tax incentives are also designed to encourage an increased supply of new properties below the duty threshold," Mr Barr said.
"The government is also continuing work on a range of additional priorities to address housing supply at the entry level of the market. This includes attracting build-to-rent investments, partnering with the community housing sector on below market rental projects and the delivery of our public housing growth and renewal program."
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CoreLogic data shows the current median unit price in the ACT is $602,475, having increased 17.5 per cent in the previous year. The median ACT house price is $1.03 million, after jumping more than 25 per cent in the previous 12 months.
Mr Barr has previously called on developers to build more properties at the cheaper end of the market so buyers could take advantage of the scheme. "This is an initiative aimed at the supply of new housing, it's not just about what's in the market today," he said in July.
But Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee has questioned the overall benefit of the stamp duty exemption, given the long-standing stamp duty waivers for first-home buyers who meet an income-based means test.
Land and property sales have continued to bolster the ACT's budget, with revenue from residential stamp duty helping to prop up the territory's tax revenue through the spring COVID lockdown.
In the three months to September, the ACT collected more than $83 million in residential stamp duty. This was almost $17 million more than the budgeted amount.
