AAP
The New South Wales (NSW) government should cut transfer stamp duty rates in next month's budget to stimulate the property market, a real estate group says.
The Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) says a cut in NSW transfer stamp duty rates of as little as half a per cent would motivate the property market and potentially boost state revenue by up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
REINSW President Christian Payne says the Reserve Bank's reduction of interest rates last week is a clear sign the economy needs to be stimulated.
"When property transfer taxes are too high, state revenue suffers," he said in a statement on Wednesday.
Last year the ACT cut the top rates of transfer duty by 0.75 per cent and it has reaped almost $28 million additional transfer duty since then, he said.
In the Northern Territory between 2006/07 and 2008/09, property transfer duty rates were cut by 0.45 per cent, which resulted in an increase of more than $22 million in revenue from that duty.
And between 2003 and 2006, WA cut duty rates by 0.9 per cent and revenues from that duty rose by more than $709 million over the period, Mr Payne said.
"The evidence is clear: cutting property transfer duty rates incentivises and stimulates the market, which produces revenue streams for the state government," he said.
The NSW budget will be handed down on June 18.