Di Jones Real Estate hosted the first installment of its new expert panel series, ‘In Conversation With Di Jones Real Estate.’

The discussion featured Louis Christopher, Managing Director and Founder SQM Research; Nick Lipscombe, Private Client Executive National Australia Bank; Ian Day, Founder Day Legal; and Stephen Ryan, Founder Edney Ryan Group.

The inaugural event, which was curated for prospective and existing property owners and buyers, provided insights into finance, legislation and tax changes, as well as the impact of potential changes to negative gearing ahead of the Federal election.

When asked about the possible changes to negative gearing in the event that the ALP wins the election, Louis Christopher said he expects a rally ahead of the introduction of the potential new regime on 1 July 2017.

Christopher said investors and developers could pull out of projects, and thereby cause a shortage of supply. He said forecasts shows the ALP policy could have a negative impact of up to 20% over a three-year period before the market stabilizes.

Christopher also said that stock levels in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs and Lower North Shore have declined, boosting prices and auction clearance rates, but volumes appear to be stabilising on the the Lower North Shore.

When panelist Nick Lipscombe was asked if he felt that lending to investors was partially responsible for ‘overheating’ the market, he put the concerns down to ‘media hype’.

Leading specialist property lawyer, Ian Day was asked to share his opinions on the changes to legislation that require vendors attaching a ‘Clearance Certificate’ from the ATO when selling a property above $2 million, which will take effect on 1 July 2016.

Day said, “This is a big game changer. When selling a property above $2 million, this is now a requirement that will involve a CPA (certified practicing accountant).”

Day said the threshold for properties of $2 million is only temporary, and the ATO may not be able to cope with the volume of transactions. However, he said that in the long run, he believes this type of approval may become a requirement for all property transactions in future.

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