What Land?
The scarcity of residential land that has been blamed for forcing up home prices in southeast Queensland is just a myth, according to a new report.
The report reveals there is plenty of land available to meet housing demand for the next 19 years – but most of it is in the hands of major developers.
And much of the available land is in areas less desired by homebuilders, who mainly want to live near the coast, according to the report by the Local Government Association of Queensland.
Premier Anna Bligh earlier this year called on council to fast-track new developments to improve housing affordability.
While the LGAQ report did not find evidence that any developers were deliberately restricting the supply of land to the market to force up prices, it concluded that the accumulation of vast parcels by big companies, particularly during the property speculation boom from 2002 to 2005, was a major factor in price escalation.
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