The improvement in homeownership was observed most predominantly among poor households, where the fall in house price and the rise in rent reduce the price-to-rent ratio in the economy by 4.2 per cent.
“This has direct implications on housing affordability as the fall in house price lowers both the downpayment requirement for mortgages and the size of mortgages required to purchase a house, making it easier for households to own a home.”
If negative gearing was to be scrapped, the average mortgage size held by homeowners would likely decrease 21 per cent.
“Eliminating negative gearing takes young landlords who were rich enough to meet a downpayment requirement for investment properties away from the market.
“This reconciles a recent trend in the property market that there has been a rise in investment housing debt holdings by young and rich 35 households who would have benefitted the most from negative gearing concessions.
“The aggregate welfare for the economy improves upon the repeal of negative gearing … around 80 per cent of households are better off after the policy reform.”
Australia’s negative gearing regime stands alone against comparable OECD countries. Only New Zealand and Japan allow the unrestricted use of negative gearing losses to offset income from other sources.
The report’s authors, Yunho Cho, Shuyun May Li, and Lawrence Uren said that along with their findings on negative gearing it would also be worth considering some partial restrictions, such as allowing tax deductions for mortgage interest payments only.
Originally Published: www.theurbandeveloper.com
