Labor's win at the NSW election on Saturday means that for only the second time in its 120-year history, the ALP dominates the nation at both a federal height and a mainland state and territory level.

Yes, our Apple Isle is now the only state in Australia to have a Liberal leader.

The last time the ALP ruled Australia in this fashion was for less than a year between late November 2007 and early September 2008.

And with the next state elections not being held till October 2024 (in Queensland, Northern Territory and the ACT) and a federal election held just last May, don't expect any major changes in this picture to happen anytime soon.

Here at Listing Loop, we're keen to investigate what's happening in mainland Australia's entirely Labor-led property market.

Let's take a look.

How the ALP regards real estate 

One of the best ways to answer this point is to look back at the federal election in May 2022, from which the ALP's Anthony Albanese emerged as victor over former prime minister, Scott Morrison.

Here's what the ALP promised to Australia if it did indeed come through with the most votes:

1. A $329 million Help To Buy Scheme would enable 10,000 low-income home buyers - and not just first-time ones - to enjoy up to 40% off the price of a property, with the ALP to provide this figure instead

These buyers would only need a 2% deposit and wouldn't need to pay Lender's Mortage Insurance (LMI) either but instead, would repay the government for their "equity contribution" over time.

Was the Help to Buy Scheme introduced?

Yes, it was, and it's set to start in July this year.

      2. In partnership with the NFIC, a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) would build 30,000 social homes over five years while also creating new jobs

Was the HAFF plan introduced?

Not yet.

Draft legislation for the HAFF Bill was released in December last year and the ALP does want to see it pass as a priority.

But even the usually ALP-supportive Greens party don't like the idea and last week saw a "crossbench revolt" against the bill after a Senate inquiry report on the HAFF bill was released.

What happens next is anyone's guess.

         3. The Regional First-Home Buyer Support Scheme would encourage 10,000 first-home buyers on low incomes and with only a 5% deposit to purchase a property in regional and rural areas, with government aid. And again, these buyers would not need to pay LMI.

Was the Regional First-Home Buyer Support Scheme introduced?

Yes, it started in October last year, after being brought forward from an initial starting date of January 2023.

ALP state and territory changes to the property market

Firstly, while NSW is no longer Liberal-led after 12 years with the blue party, can we say that we did like the Liberal Party's First Home Buyer Choice Program idea?

First announced in November last year and beginning in January this year, the program enables first-home buyers to choose between paying a one-off stamp duty figure or a (possibly) smaller, annual, ongoing property tax.

We're hoping that despite the state's shift to Labor on Saturday, this great idea will continue - and certainly, the former Liberal government did allocate $728.6 million over the next four years to the scheme.

The newly-elected ALP party now has the abolition of first-home buyer stamp duty in its sights, on purchases up to $800,000, with a reduced rate for homes up to $1 million.

It has also promised to assist the social housing industry by combining the three existing government agencies into just one body.

To be called Homes NSW, this concept would see housing construction, maintenance, and tenant management join together.

Victoria

ALP Premier Dan Andrews has been in power since 2014 and even after keeping Melbourne in COVID lockdown for the longest period on the planet, was elected to power again just last year.

Going on this last election, let's take a look at Dan's property promises and whether or not they've come to nought.

The Premier promised an extension of its October 2021, Victorian Homebuyer Fund shared equity scheme.

This scheme enables low-income home buyers to purchase a property of up to $950,000 with only a 5% deposit while the government buys a stake of 25% in the house.

The now "super-sized" $1.1 billion fund has also tripled the financial size of the initial concept.

And yes, this promise was delivered, while other first-home buyer grants and concessions are also still in place.

Thanks Dan.

However, neither Victoria nor Queensland have plans to completely abolish stamp duty or consider a plan such has been introduced in NSW.

South Australia

With Victoria, South Australia's last state election in 2022, in March, with the Labor Party elected to power after Liberal's dominion of just one term.

Stamp duty and first-home buyer concessions are all on offer in this state.

Stamp duty revenue is still high however, but in good news, the $1.12 billion figure may be shifted towards assisting first-home buyers even further.

More recently, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced last month that his government would deliver 564 public homes as part of an initial $965 million Better Housing Future plan.

Last month's announcement comes after three decades of barely any extra public housing being built in the state, and means the government will provide an additional 1,144 public homes by mid-2026.

This amounts to an extra $55.2 million over the next few years.

Western Australia

Western Australia's last state election was held in March 2021 with ALP Premier Mark McGowan re-elected for a second term.

The western state offers similar first-home buyer and stamp duty concessions as those of other states and territories with first-home buyers paying no stamp duty for established homes or vacant land worth less than $430,000.

In April 2022, Mr McGowan announced he was also introducing a Duties Amendment Bill; however, this will largely only assist those with non-residential properties.

Plus, he added in July that he wouldn't replace stamp duty with an annual land tax.

Queensland

Like Victoria, the Sunshine State seems perfectly happy with its Labor leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, voting for her again in the midst of COVID in October 2020.

Saying that, there are some excellent first-home buyer grants and concessions in this state.

Apart from this detail though, there were few, if any, real property promises made by the ALP in the 2020 state election.

ACT

As with Queensland, the ACT last had an election in October 2020 and as such, is due for another one next year.

Even without any election promises, however, this territory can lay claim to experiencing some of the highest, sharpest uplifts and declines in recent years.

It is now second only to Sydney for having the most expensive median house price in the country ($946,022 as of CoreLogic's Home Value Index report earlier this month).

As for its ALP government property influence, the territory's stamp duty reforms are part of a 20-year tax reform plan that began in 2012.

The changes mean owner-occupied off-plan properties of up to $600,000 enjoy no stamp duty charges with established homes worth up to $1.455 million enjoying reduced charges.

The ACT also has its own forms of first-home buyer concessions and grants.

Northern Territory

As with Queensland and the ACT, the Northern Territory last had an election in August 2020 and will have its next polls day in 2024.

And as with all Australian states and territories, the NT offers its own first-home buyer concessions and grants as well stamp duty concessions - although none for first-home buyers as there are in some other states and territories.

However, the House and Land Package Exemption (HLPE) gives home buyers the chance to avoid paying stamp duty if they buy a house-and-land package.

Tasmanian changes to property market

OK, OK, so Tasmania is still led by the Liberal Party and will remain as such until its next election in 2025.

But let's take a quick look at the state's government-induced property plans.

The Apple Isle certainly has a first-home buyer grant of $30,000 which is available until July 1 this year.

And while there are no absolute stamp duty exemptions for these buyers, they do enjoy a 50% discount on this charge for established homes worth $600,000 or less.

Meanwhile, the current Liberal Party has signed off on the following promises it made at the 2021 Election:

• 450 homes to be built at Hobart Showgrounds, including 150 social and affordable homes (worth $42.15 million);
• Land tax reductions, with tax-free threshold for land tax to double to $100,000 and upper tax threshold will be lifted to $500,000 while rates for these thresholds will drop from 0.55% to 0.45%
• 3,500 social housing homes to be built by 2027 at a cost of $538 million. Indicated at the 2021 Election and promised in the 2022-23 Budget, this plan will see 1,500 social housing homes built by mid-2023, rising to a total of 10,000 new homes by 2032, as part of a 10-year $1.5 billion housing package.

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