00:00 A full house today at this auction in Glen Waverley in Melbourne's east.
00:07 The competition was fierce.
00:12 And after 45 minutes of intense bidding from seven competitors,
00:18 one lucky couple became first homeowners, buying at their very first auction.
00:25 While supply is still limited, softening house prices are giving more Victorians a chance
00:30 to own their first home.
00:32 But renters still have few options.
00:34 We always have investors coming to the area, but actually in the last six months we really
00:39 didn't meet any investors.
00:41 What I've seen in the last year or so is a lot of people shying away from investing in
00:46 Victoria.
00:47 Investors blame a Victorian government levy introduced last year, which slugged landlords
00:52 with increased land tax to pay off the state's COVID debts.
00:57 It's having a horrendous effect on investor sentiment and their willingness to stay in
01:01 the market.
01:02 It does beg the question why that particular sector of investors have been targeted.
01:07 Lending for investment property purchases across Victoria was about $2.2 billion in
01:13 the month of April.
01:15 But the growth in that investment lending across the state is clearly slower than what
01:19 we're seeing nationally.
01:21 The state government insists Victoria remains attractive to investors and the increased
01:26 land tax has had little impact on rents.
01:29 The Housing Minister says landlords need to pay their share.
01:32 The sorts of taxes and frameworks that operate do not apply to people in rental situations.
01:38 They are about making sure that when people are seeing a return on their investment as
01:42 landlords they are in fact making sure they're making a contribution.
01:46 My heart today is with those vulnerable Victorians who can't afford to purchase a home and who
01:52 are looking to rent a home and can't because of the prices impact because of the state
01:57 government taxes.
01:58 There's no easy answers when it comes to securing one of life's most basic necessities.
02:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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