What’s the story: We’ve asked experts as well as actual first home buyers what they think about the housing policies revealed on Sunday by the major parties. Let’s start with the people the policies aim to help.
Sounds good, hope it works: That’s the upshot from 24-year-old Harry Jang. He’s hoping to enter the market and is encouraged that housing is the now a focus of the campaign, but he's worried about the impact on prices. Another buyer we spoke to was ineligible as he'd committed to an existing build. Elsewhere, people asked why not just target negative gearing or stamp duty
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And here's the expert view: I told you yesterday how the initial reaction was … unimpressed, to say the least. Today we have experts using phrases like "putting fuel on the fire", and it's a ""dumpster fire" at that. One says the system is, quite simply, "cooked". The issue is largely there still being not enough houses to meet demand, and not enough people to build more.
'Hold my beer': That's how our chief digital correspondent sums up this phase of the campaign,
with $24 billion in housing promises unleashed in the blink of an eye on an otherwise ordinary Sunday. This morning, both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are defending their respective acts of largesse.
EXTRA: You can see the treasurer and shadow treasurer
lock horns in at times fiery debate
▶️ on the issue on last night's 7.30. And the housing minister and shadow housing minister addressed the house price question on last night's Q+A.
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