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Katie Woolf spoke with Master Builders NT CEO Dave Malone · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us on the line to talk us through this
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: a little bit more and how things are currently tracking.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: It is the Master Builders into CEO Dave Malone. Good
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: morning to you, Dave.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Good wanting Katie, how are you not too bad?
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Dave? You and I have spoken about these numbers before.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: We've spoken about some of the concerns around the place
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: when it comes to Territorians entering the housing market. How
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: things are going? How things how are they going at
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: the moment when you talk about those wanting to enter
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: the housing market in terms of building a new home, Well.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: That's a really good question, Katie. That from what we
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: can tell from the data that we've got, it's pretty
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: clear that the demand for housing is really starting to
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: drop off. Now there'll be a lot of reasons for that,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and we can we can talk about that. But you know,
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: back in March, at the end of the incentives that
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: we saw with home Builder and build Bonus Territory and
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: signed out for seventy five new homes. That contracts for
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: new homes in just one month. That was the end
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of an incentive. But that's sort of the peace to
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: the market. And last month right across the territory in
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: every community had them all up and people just contracted
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: for eighteen homes. So there's a big gap between what
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: we saw as the peak and what we saw last
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: month in the market.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: And Dave, does a lot of that come down to,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: you know, those incentives really going? Like we know that
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: there were great federal incentives, there was great Northern Territory
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: incentives as well, and a lot of that's dried up,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: hasn't it?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: It has if you're a first home buyer. There was
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: a magic window that ran from you know, towards the
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: middle of last year through to March, when both federal
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: and state governments put money out encouraging people to get
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: into their new homes. They also had stamp duty concessions
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: as well, and a lot of people responded accordingly. But
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: what now those incentives are gone and essentially the price
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: the house has gone up because you've got to find
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: that extra money yourself, the extra deposit, and whenever prices
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: go up, demand goes down. Pretty simple economics, Dave, what
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: do you.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Reckon's going to happen? Here? Are we going to be
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: in a situation where we have people leaving the territory
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: because you know, it's maybe not as easy to get
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: into the housing market.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: So that's my concern, and I think it's the concern
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: of the industry a bit as well. Not everybody is
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: saying that, of course, but I've had a few homeowners
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: who've contacted me and said, you know, you can get
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: incentives elsewhere in the country. We've got to weigh it up.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: We've got to look at, you know, where we can
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: get into the housing market, because we all know once
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: you get in, things aren't anywhere near as challenging. So
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: people are looking at alternatives to the Northern Territory. We
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: should just never let any of these people go in
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: my view, that's the view of the industry as well.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: And it's not just about putting work through the doors
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: of construction businesses. That's how you grow to the territory.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: We just meet more people, don't we.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Well, this is kind of the interesting thing I reckon
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: at the moment. You know, as I mentioned before, we
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: spoke to Laws and Broad from Somerville Community Services last week. Now,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: they obviously provide services to those that are struggling right now,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: and there are a lot of Territorians that have gone
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: through a tough spot as a result of COVID for
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: various reasons. So, you know, talking about that rental stress
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and affordable housing for you know, for some Territorians. But
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: then when you talk about other Territorians that are wanting
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: to enter the housing market or wanting to build their
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: own home, it does make a big difference when there
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: are incentives there. But like you've touched on, when you
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: talk about building the territory and growing the territory, we've
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: got to make sure people have places to live as
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: well if they move here for work.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and you know, it takes a long time to
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: go from the point where people believe they have enough
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: finances to go to the bank and start the process
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: of building a new home to actually putting the key
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: in the front door and moving in. That's a twelvemonth
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: process at least. And so when you have the market
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: dipping as it is now, not only does that have
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: an impact on us as an industry, but it has
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: an impact right across the community and it takes a
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: long time to call that back. What we always go
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: looking for is stability, and you know, right now the
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: balance in terms of our new homes in particular, has
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: changed quite a lot. I don't know whether your listeners know,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: but you know, the average new home has fifty thousand
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: dollars worth of GST on it. First home buyers, when
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: they buy the block of land, they pay a contribution
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: back to the territory government for the land and then
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: they pay stamp duty as well, albeit with some concessions.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: So housing is one of the most heavily taxed parts
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: of our society and you need to provide some incentives
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: for first home buyers. Police be adding it on that treadmill.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Are there any incentives at the moment for those first
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: time buyers?
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, the government still has some incentives in place, and
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: you know, like you can never complain when governments are trying.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: But what happens for as far as we're concerned, is
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: when things change dramatically and the market dynamics change is
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the result, because that falls straight away into this hole
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: that we're looking at, where you know, the number of
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: homes that have been built drops considerably. That affects our industry,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: it affects those families. What we're looking for is certainty
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: and consistency. We argued when those intentees finished that there
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: should have been a transition arrangement.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: Others thought differently, So what do you reckon needs to
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: happen here, Dave, I.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Reckon we need a medium to long term plan about
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: how we get a lot more territories into their own home.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Our level of home ownership in the territory is way
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: lower than anywhere else in Australia, and we keep talking
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: about population and wanting to keep families here and workforce
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: or it all starts with the home.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it is a conversation that we need
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to be having a little bit more of. I think,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: you know, whether we're talking about as you and I
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: have just discussed now, whether we're talking about sort of
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: people getting into their first homes in terms of building
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: a new home, or whether we are talking about that
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: housing affordability. So I think that it's a really important
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: aspect when you talk about growing the Northern Territory.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: I completely agree, And you know, I think sometimes you know,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: you know, I've been around for a little while now,
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: I think people of my generation and even generations are
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: after me forget how hard it was to get into
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: that first time. Once you've done that, you're on a
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: very different treadmill in your life is taking a different
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: trajectory from that point onwards, but jumping in getting that
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: first place is genuinely difficult. It gets more difficult all
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: the time. You know, it's not just about can you
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: build it, but you know the changing banking regulations had
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: a big effect on people as well. I think we
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: just need to say to ourselves we really need these
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: families in particular to stay here in the territory, and
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: the best way of doing that is to make sure
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: they own their own heart.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Well, Dave Malone, the see of Master Builders here in
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, It's always good to catch up with you.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for having a chat with us today.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Have a great day, Katie Yuto