REIWA highlights stamp duty and rental relief in state budget wishlist

The state’s peak real estate authority has called on the WA government to lift stamp duty thresholds ahead of next year’s budget in a bid to improve pathways into home ownership, while also urging rental concessions for tenants to open up the struggling market.

The Real Estate Institute of WA is seeking a program to incentivise investors to provide affordable rental properties at below-market rates, lifting the general and first home buyer stamp duty thresholds, and an incentive scheme to encourage investors to install solar panels on rental properties.

Last week the Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed its fifth interest rate rise of 2026, increasing the cash rate target to 4.85 per cent, increasing the pressure on current mortgage holders as house prices dropped across the nation.

REIWA president Rob Mandanici said while prices are now declining, strong market growth over the past few years had made purchasing a property increasingly expensive.

“We’re asking for the stamp duty thresholds to be increased to reflect bracket creep due to price growth,” he said.

“As well as helping buyers in general, it may facilitate downsizing and create some much-needed mobility within the market.

“For non-first home buyers, the REIWA Perth median house sale price has been above the highest stamp duty bracket since October 2024. The purchaser of a house at Perth’s median sale price in January 2020 would have paid $16,815.00 in stamp duty. The buyer of a house at Perth’s median sale price as at August 2026 would have paid $40,550.50.

“This is a huge increase. It makes buying a new home an expensive transaction and affects movement within the market.”

WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti said the state government had extended its stamp duty concessions to support more housing supply and more diversity in the market.

“We increased our concessions for stamp duty at the last budget, in particular, for off-the-plan and under-construction homes,” she said.

“We’ve extended it to duplexes and other more density products.

“There’s a lot of changing dynamics at the moment, so we’ll continue to work to support the housing industry. One of our key focuses currently is to ensure that we continue to support more rental supply.”

WA opposition leader Basil Zempilas said stamp duty receipts had been a “massive windfall” for the state government’s coffers.

“At the last budget, we called for a 20 per cent across-the-board reduction in stamp duty, and we’re pleased to see that REIWA has joined that conversation now and are also advocating for stamp duty relief,” he said.

“Receipts from stamp duty have gone just a few years ago from $1 billion to $5 billion last year. That is a massive increase, an increase of $4 billion in stamp duty receipts in just a few years’ time.

“Ultimately, it’s a matter for the government, and it’s a matter for what the government will do at budget time.

Mandanici said the rental market remains extremely constrained.

“REIWA is requesting the Government establish a new pilot program incentivising investors to provide affordable housing at below-market rates,” he said.

“Rent prices are at record highs, rental affordability is at record lows, the vacancy rate is below 2 per cent and rental supply has not returned to pre-COVID moratorium levels on a per capita basis.

“While affordability is a challenge for many tenants, it is greater for households that earn slightly above social housing income limits and do not qualify for current assistance programs.”