A new report out today shows Queensland’s property industry is the most confident in the nation, Premier Campbell Newman said.

The Property Council of Australia – ANZ Property Industry Confidence Survey shows Queensland leading the way with a surge in industry confidence for the March quarter of 10 points.

“That result tells us that the property industry in this State has confidence in the future and in its capacity to do business in Queensland,” Mr Newman said.

“It’s also great to see that Queensland is the only State where the majority of industry professionals believe the State Government is doing a good job in planning and managing growth.”

Acting Treasurer John McVeigh said the survey also showed Queensland had the highest expectation of economic growth in the state over the coming year.“

There’s been a marked change over the last six months in the property sector’s confidence in economic growth,” Mr McVeigh said.

“Planned property construction for the March quarter has also surged ahead, particularly for the residential sector.”Acting Minister for State Development

Infrastructure and Planning Ian Walker said the survey showed the property industry was benefitting from the Government’s reform agenda.

“We’ve introduced a new State Planning Policy, the State Assessment and Referral Agency, two statutory regional plans, the creation of a number of Priority Development Areas, new Queensland Planning Provisions, and a discussion paper for the reform of the funding framework for local government infrastructure,” Mr Walker said.

“This survey shows that this is an important body of work that is making a difference. This year we will be focusing on finalising the local infrastructure charges system, introducing a new concise planning act to replace the current convoluted legislation, finalising the Cape York regional plan, preparing a new southeast Queensland regional plan, and reforming the structure and content of future local government planning schemes.”

The Premier said today’s indicators of confidence in the property sector backed up recent data showing the Government’s economic plan for Queensland was delivering positive results.

“We’ve seen a 13 per cent increase in housing finance commitments in the year to November and a 4.9 per cent increase in November in trend dwelling approvals,” he said.

“This is clear evidence the Government has put the Queensland economy back on track. Positive actions such as restoring the principal place of residence stamp duty concession to cut more than $7000 off the cost of the family home are helping to bolster the property sector."

“We’ve also implemented the $15,000 Great Start Grant to help get first home buyers into the market.

“Our disciplined and methodical approach to managing the economy is now reaping real rewards.”