The Property Council of Australia believes a number of economic challenges remain for Australia's property industry, despite new data showing increased confidence in the sector for the first time in 12 months.

The latest ANZ/Property Council Survey for the September 2019 quarter shows that industry confidence has picked up by 13 index points, improving in all states and territories, except for the ACT.

At a glance: 

• The Property Council of Australia and ANZ have released a new survey showing improved confidence in the property market across all states and territories, except for the ACT.
• A national increase of 13 points across the September quarter reversed a year-long decline.
• Despite a series of positive developments since the election, Property Council Chief Executive Ken Morrison has warned of the economic challenges still facing the sector.

Property Council of Australia Chief Executive Ken Morrison said while there had been a series of positive developments within the market since the election, residential construction activity was set to continue its decline, impacting jobs and the economy.

“Following the federal election, we have had a quadrella of positive policy news which translated into a strong sentiment bounce," he said.

“These are very welcome steps and have led to much stronger expectations of national economic growth and the availability of credit.

“However, the property sector is not immune from the challenges facing the rest of the economy and a number of state governments have just embarked on a range of investment-sapping tax increases. 

“State budgets in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia have hit the property industry with arbitrary and poorly designed tax increases which will hurt investment and job creation, and risk undermining the current sentiment turnaround."

The results of the survey follow the release of CoreLogic's June Home Value Index earlier in the week, which indicated growth in Sydney and Melbourne for the first time since 2017.

ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, said there had been emerging signs of stability in the residential property market across the past three months.,

"In particular, we noted the pace of house prices declines was slowing and that the auction clearance rate was beginning to rise," he said.

“Over the past month lower interest rates, the proposed change to the interest rate floor by the regulator, and the removal of uncertainty around the impact of the possible tax policy changes have boosted sentiment toward housing.

“The results of the latest ANZ/Property Council Survey capture this shift, with most parts of the survey showing material improvement."

Similar to this: 

Cities policy should be a priority for next government, says Property Council of Australia

Policy makers must be ready to 'step up', says Property Council

CEO of Property Council hoses down vacant property tax speculation