Last week, the Property Council of Australia released figures that showed the cost of stamp duty to a home buyer with an average-sized mortgage has increased by 749 per cent in Sydney and 795 per cent in Melbourne during the past 20 years. Hodges Director, Julian Augustini, was asked by The Real Estate Conversation to weigh in at the debate.

Julian said it was important to remember that the stamp duty percentage rate hasn’t changed, but the median house price has increased greatly over time. “Buyers are paying more for properties and therefore are paying more in Stamp Duty. Back in the day, there used to be a ‘sliding scale’ approach for stamp duty when median house prices were much lower. To reflect market changes, a stamp duty sliding scale could instead be linked to the median house price. Vendors needn’t be deterred; increasingly buyers are understanding of the fees and taxes that are implicit when purchasing property.”

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