#melbourneproperty — Public Fediverse posts

@GhostOnTheHalfShell Exactly. Victoria is currently running the "progressive" tax playbook that San Francisco's Proposition M (the "Empty Homes Tax") aimed for—but with more teeth.
​Here is the breakdown:
​1. The Vacancy Reality
​While SF's version has faced legal hurdles and local pushback, Victoria’s Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) is already live. As of January 1, 2026, it has expanded to the entire state. If a property is empty for 6+ months, the tax hits hard and grows every year:
​Year 1: 1% of the property’s total value.
​Year 2: 2%.
​Year 3+: 3%.
​On a $1M home, that’s a $30,000 yearly penalty just for keeping it empty.
​2. Targeting "Land Banking"
​Starting this year (2026), Victoria is also taxing unimproved land in Melbourne that’s been sitting undeveloped for 5 years. It stops investors from just holding dirt and waiting for a payday while people struggle to find homes.
​3. The "Stagnation" Secret

​The media calls Melbourne’s flat house prices a "weak market," but it’s likely the policy working. By lowering the land tax threshold to just $50,000, the state has made it expensive to hold multiple properties. Investors are selling off because the "holding costs" now outweigh the profit.
​It’s a massive experiment in using tax to force houses back onto the market—and the silence from the mainstream press suggests the "investor class" is feeling the squeeze.
​
#housingjustice #vicpol #vacancytax #melbourneproperty #landtax

This report reads like a Property Council press release rather than analysis. Falling prices in parts of Melbourne are framed as a crisis, when for decades the real crisis has been housing becoming completely unaffordable for ordinary people. Victoria is one of the few states actually trying to increase supply, tax speculation and take pressure off renters and first home buyers. Of course the property lobby hates that. Affordable housing is not a nightmare for the public, it is only a nightmare for investors and developers who rely on endless price inflation. A correction after years of excess is not failure, it is overdue.

#housingcrisis #affordablehousing #melbourneproperty #victoria #propertylobby #renters #firsthomebuyers #housingpolicy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7uw1IqXTJs

Melbourne: A rare house price oasis in Australia’s overheated property market.

While most capitals are pricing out first home buyers, Melbourne is quietly becoming more accessible — thanks in large part to Victoria’s investor-targeted tax regime.

No praise, of course, is given to the state government for:
• The Vacant Residential Land Tax (discouraging empty homes)
• Higher land tax rates on investment properties
• The windfall gains tax on rezoned land

These measures have cooled investor demand and helped keep prices within reach of everyday buyers. Other states take note.

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2025/05/how-melbourne-transformed-into-a-house-price-oasis/

#melbourneproperty #housingaffordability #firsthomebuyer #victoriapolitics #propertyinvestors #realestateaus #melbournehousing #australianproperty #housingpolicy #landtax #macrobusiness #propertymarket