Waleed Aly has been mocked on live television for supporting the prime minister’s suggestion to allow first home buyers to take money out of their super to enter the property market.
Scott Morrison announced that first home buyers will be allowed to take up to $50,000 out of their super to be able to buy a house.
Labor labelled the scheme as an election stunt but The Project co-host Waleed Aly stood short of criticising.
Speaking to guest economics journalist Shane Wright, Waleed said it was surprising that it was claimed the housing market did better than the share market.
Waleed pointed out a massive 16 per cent increase in the past year for the housing market and said the prime minister’s initiative made sense.
“Ten years ago I’d much rather have had my money in housing than on the stock market,” Waleed said.
To which Wright immediately snapped back: “That’s why you are a TV personality and not in the property market.
“That is why you are not a real estate economist,” fellow co-host Steve Price piped in.
“Very good point. That is why I am asking the question,” a laughing Waleed replied.
Scott Morrison announced the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers access to part of their super to buy a house. Economics journalist @swrighteconomy explains what this will mean for house prices and your retirement.#TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/kL4zjciknu
— The Project (@theprojecttv) May 16, 2022
Waleed had tried to explain his reasoning to Wright and to the panel saying that the housing market would be a lot more reliable than shares.
“One thing that is interesting about this policy is that if you were to take your money out to spend on a house and you sell that house, you have to put the money back with the relevant proportion of capital gains,” he said.
“So once you think about it that way, couldn’t you look at this as just another investment, instead of putting money aside for superannuation that gets invested in the share market, it’s being invested in the property market.
“And so it’s the same as shares except it has the benefit that you could live on your investment but you are not throwing your money away, you’re not losing the investment.
“If you’re in a superannuation with a growth fund, you have made 9.5 per cent over the last 10 years. You have outperformed the property market by about $200,000,” he said.
“People think that house prices never go down. We are actually experiencing that right now.”
Image: The Project
