Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia, condemns as 'myth' the findings by Prosper Australia that 4.8% of Melbourne's homes lie vacant.
Last month, Prosper Australia published research showing that 82,000 of Melbourne's 1.7 million homes, or 4.8%, lie vacant.
The findings, the latest in an annual study, fuelled speculation governments may introduce 'vacancy taxes' to penalise those who leave properties empty.
But Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia, condemns the vacancy findings as 'urban myth'.
“We have not seen any evidence that the ‘vacant property’ issue is real," he said.
Morrison said introducing a vacant property tax would be introducing "a policy seeking to solve an ‘urban myth’," and likened reports of high rates of vacant property to the "Lithgow Panther, many vouch that it is true but no one has seen it."
Morrison said it does not make economic sense for an investor to let their property lie empty, although the Prosper research says some investors wish to leave the property available to sell vacant.
"It makes no sense for investors to leave vacant properties that could be generating an income," he said.
Morrison said the tax would cost more to administer than it would raise.
"Let’s focus on measures that are going to make housing affordability better,” advised Morrison.
Read more about vacant property:
Penalties for leaving properties unoccupied could improve affordability