Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have known for some time that the opposition have a passionate dislike for public housing. I am sorry to hear it confirmed yet again. We on this side of the House believe that you can have both public and private housing, and our policy reflects that. It is not a coincidence that the three government members speaking in favour of this motion tonight are from Western Sydney. Those of us who live in that area know that, over the last five or six years or so, rising interest rates—in fact, 10 interest rate rises in a row—have been wreaking havoc on families in Western Sydney, perhaps disproportionately to those in the rest of the country.

The sheriff’s office figures show that, over four years from 2004, in the worst-affected areas in Western Sydney, writs of repossession rose by up to six or seven times. The writs being enforced increased dramatically also during that period. I remember that repossessions in the little suburb of Northmead, just north of where I live, doubled in the first half of 2007 and then doubled again in the last half of 2007. In Blacktown, there were 85 writs of possession in 2007; in Parramatta, 23; in Wentworthville, a massive 21; and, in Winston Hills, 10. These are not just figures; they represent real people with real families. They also represent a whole range of people who work in housing construction. In an area like Parramatta, which has a very large construction industry, the decline in the housing market was impacting on families, not just those with mortgages but those who worked in the construction field. So it is a great relief to me and my colleagues in Western Sydney to see the turnaround. The combination of lower interest rates with the first home buyers grant has given a considerable boost to demand and breathed the very life back into the property market, bringing great relief to families suffering from mortgage stress and to first home buyers seeking to start out on that journey to homeownership.

Repossessions have plummeted in Western Sydney: in Blacktown from 85 in 2007 to 38 in the first eight months of 2008; in Northmead from 11 down to almost half; and in Wentworthville from 21 down to 11. Sales are absolutely up and it was clear even in the first week after the first home buyers boost was announced that things had changed. Driving home from the office, I could see queues outside homes open for inspection, for the first time in a few years. Real estate agents in my area were reporting that the number of people interested in properties had grown dramatically very quickly. The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales said that even in November the figures confirmed the evidence that the federal government’s first home buyer boost was having a very positive effect on first home buyers in the market.

The number of first home buyer commitments as a percentage of total owner occupied housing finance commitments rose from 23.6 per cent in November, when that statement was made, to 25.4 per cent in December 2008. That was the highest proportion since December 2001. So, in spite of the financial crisis and a history over several years of great pain in Western Sydney, we see quite a significant turnaround. In fact, property sales across all Western Sydney suburbs have soared in the three months to February this year, with some of the worst areas from the past, Liverpool, Campbelltown and Fairfield, with 12 per cent rises in sales and Blacktown, right on the edge of my electorate, with a 20 per cent increase in sales. A total of 8,455 contracts were exchanged on new and existing homes in that period, and that is up more than 1,100 over the same period last year. One of the really nice things about this turnaround is that young families are driving the new boom, with more than 50 per cent of all sales being first home buyers, with most solid growth in homes of less than $500,000. Again that trend has been confirmed by the real estate agents in my electorate. The turnaround has been quite phenomenal. We still have a long way to go in Western Sydney and the rest of the country but I commend the motion to the House. (Time expired)

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