It means the empty nesters are eating into their super and locking younger families out of the housing market.
Mr Rigby is the Upside Realty CEO and founder and he said older Australians were living in their home years longer than was suitable for them, because they feared market uncertainty and the costs associated with selling.
“This is typically one person living in an otherwise empty six-bedroom house and there are more than 100,000 underused houses in NSW and Victoria alone,” Mr Rigby said.
“The increased expenses associated with running these homes is dangerously eating into retirement funds and locking families and first-home buyers out of the market.”
Mr Rigby said the latest ABS data showed that 49% of Australians were living in under-utilised dwellings – in houses with two or more empty bedrooms.
He said the number increased throughout the property downturn last year and had now spiked with the drop in sales volume led by the Covid 19 outbreak.
“In the last month we have seen a 28.7% decrease in sales volume compared to 2019, a year which was already substantially down, compared to previous years.”
“This stalemate has been going on for the last 18 months or more.
“Seniors keep delaying a downsize because they are unsure about the market and they know they will be slugged with a huge tax.”
Mr Rigby said Australia was unique in the world in terms of property transaction costs.
“The high cost of sales transactions and stamp duty urgently needs to be addressed if the government is serious about improving affordability and assisting in the nation’s economic recovery.”
“In Victoria, homeowners who pay $680,000 for a home, have to come up with a further $35,870 in stamp duty. In NSW, homeowners buying for the same amount must pay $26,032 in stamp duty. In Queensland, the stamp duty on a home of the same price is $16,450.
Upside is a ground breaker in the fixed-fee real estate field and is already disrupting the industry in seven markets across the country, including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Using market-leading technology, vendors work with an experienced agent to sell their home for a fixed fee of $8900 for private treaty or $9700 for auction.
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