REINSW members will recall that on 1 July 2010 the former NSW Labor Government introduced the Torrens Assurance Levy, which is an ad valorem tax payable on the registration of a transfer of NSW property where the purchase price is more than $500,000. The greater the purchase price, the higher the levy payable. By way of example, the tax amounts to $204 on a property with a price of $600,000, and increases to $1,004 for a property at $1,000,000 and $6,004 for a property at $3 million.

REINSW immediately sought, and received, an undertaking from the then Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell that he would repeal the ad valorem tax should the NSW Liberals & Nationals be elected to government at the 2011 NSW election.

REINSW is pleased to report that the Real Property Amendment (Torrens Assurance Levy Repeal) Bill 2011 was introduced into the NSW Parliament yesterday on 9 May 2011.

While the Bill is not yet law, we are pleased to see the new Government taking steps to honour its undertaking to REINSW. We will monitor the progress of the Bill as it makes its way through Parliament and will keep members informed of further developments.

The Bill is proposed to come into effect on 1 July 2011. Under transitional provisions, the tax will continue to apply to registrations of transfers that are executed to give effect to Contracts for Sale of Land entered into on or after 1 July 2010 and before 1 July 2011. Only registrations of transfers made to give effect to Contracts for Sale where the contract for sale is entered into on or after 1 July 2011 will benefit from the abolition of the tax.

Accordingly, REINSW members may notice and reasonably expect some resistance to exchange of contracts by purchasers between now and 1 July 2011, as by delaying exchange to 1 July 2011 they can avoid paying the levy. The resistance may be more pronounced with respect to purchasers of premium properties who would be liable for much higher levies.

Residential rents across Sydney have remained stable despite rising property prices, NSW government figures show.

NSW Housing Minister David Borger said the average rent in Sydney in the March quarter was $400 a week, just $10 more than in the same period a year ago.

"Rents remained relatively stable throughout 2009, and the latest data shows the stability continuing into the first quarter of 2010," Mr Borger said, referring to the latest Rent and Sales report from Housing NSW.

The cheapest one-bedroom homes in Sydney’s "outer ring" were in Wyong and Gosford on the central coast, costing just $170 a week.

The most expensive one-bedroom home was in the Sydney local government area, with an average weekly rent of $450.

Meanwhile, a four-bedroom home in Wyong cost just $373 a week, compared with $1800 in the eastern Sydney council area of Woollahra.

Lois Buckett

Hello everyone, this is the new blog for Lois Buckett Real Estate in Lennox Head. On this blog you’ll find lots of interesting information about real estate, houses for sale and rental properties available in the area.

We hope you find the information helpful to you in your search, please feel free to ask us any question about the area and what it has to offer, we look forward to working with you in the near future.