Going once, going twice, sold! What's on offer this election from Labor and Liberals to fix the housing crisis

South Australia's housing market is running hot. When it comes to securing votes, the major parties want those caught up in the crisis to buy what they're selling. 

Fixing the housing crisis is a key election issue.

Last week, Premier Peter Malinauskas picked up a paint brush and laid some bricks during a "housing policy blitz". Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn also donned high-vis.

Labor has promised to build 13,500 new homes each year, if re-elected — a figure it said had been informed by Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

Shadow Housing Minister Michelle Lensink said the Liberals had not set a target because they did not have "access to all of the resources" of the state government but did not believe Labor's number to be "particularly ambitious".

Both of the major parties have pledged concessions around stamp duty, along with skills and training initiatives to improve housing affordability and availability.

There is also support for renters. However, Minister for Housing Nick Champion said there was a clear difference between Labor and Liberal policy.

"If you want to see increased prices on established homes, well vote for these other characters."

In the 2024 budget, the state government removed the price cap for stamp duty relief for first home buyers on new builds.

Mr Champion said the Liberals' promise to remove stamp duty for first home buyers on established homes was flawed because it would increase demand on existing stock.

But Shadow Housing Minister Michelle Lensink said it was about giving first home buyers choice.

"For anybody who's been through the process of having had to engage in those lengthy contracts, it's scary, it's risky, it takes time."

Million-dollar median club

The rise of house prices is a nationwide issue, but Adelaide is soon expected to join the million-dollar median sale price club, based on figures from the state's Valuer-General, who reported it had officially reached $925,000 in December.

"It's really quite incredible," Adelaide University housing economist Chris Leishman said.

In its 2026 First Home Buyer Report released last week, real estate analytics company Domain said entry-level house prices in Adelaide rose 20 per cent, or $120,000, in the past 12 months to $720,000.

Challenges to save

Adelaide couple Jarrad Powell and Kyah Macnab have just managed to get their foot in the door, recently securing land in the government's Playford Alive development at Munno Para, north of Adelaide.

They said saving for a deposit had been challenging.

"Like having mum and dad there to support, but I don't know, doing it without them could be pretty, almost near impossible."

Downsizing incentives

In a bid to "create movement" in the housing market, the Liberals announced that if elected, they would give eligible South Australians over the age of 55 a one-off $15,000 concession on stamp duty to move into a smaller home under $1.2 million.

"There aren't enough family homes for families at the moment, which is pushing up prices. So, our downsizer policy isn't going to push up prices," Ms Lensink said.

Borrowing from real estate lingo, Labor tried to "gazump" the opposition last week with its own "downsizer" policy, to get rid of stamp duty for those aged 60 and over who buy a smaller, newly built home or off-the-plan apartment worth up to $2 million. 

"There are many, many people who are approaching the latter end of their life, want something easier," Mr Champion said. 

"We want to turbocharge apartments, particularly in the city."

Housing crisis cure?

Mr Leishman said no single policy would fix the housing crisis, but the suite of initiatives announced by both sides would have an impact.

"The trick is to look at them as a sort of joined up set of policies which tackle a very complex problem from every angle," Mr Leishman said.

'Biggest land release in post-war history'

Rising demand, along with constrained land supply, have pushed up prices. Mr Champion said since returning to office in 2022, his government had led "the biggest land release in the South Australian post-war history".

"Previous governments, Labor and Liberal, didn't put enough infrastructure in the ground and really did restrict both the land available and the infrastructure available to enable new greenfield allotments," Mr Champion said.

Ms Lensink believed it was a "bit rich" for Labor to blame her party, considering the Liberals had only been in office for four out of the past 24 years.

"Labor like to have a crack at us about a whole range of things because they try and blame us for everything," she said.

"One of the things that we managed to do was roll out an electronic planning system across South Australia. 

Making land available quickly for new home construction remains challenging. Despite his recent land purchase at Munno Para, Mr Powell isn't expecting a slab to be poured until the middle of next year because of land division delays.

"August 2027 is the projected titling date for the land … so, you're looking at eight months from that point (to build the house)," he said.

"So, hopefully around that April, May 2028 would be the timeframe to be moving in."

Hope to speed up land division

Mr Champion said he was working to speed up the land division process, and his government would have more to say in its "Housing Roadmap 2" plan to be released mid-this year, if re-elected.

"I don't think it should take so long to build homes on essentially flat land where we have infrastructure and we've got to get better at that," he said.

"So, we'll be looking at a range of reforms in the run-up to Housing Roadmap 2 to make that process quicker."

While Labor spent last week unveiling a raft of housing-related policies, Ms Lensink was tight-lipped on whether her party had more initiatives to come.

"That'll be up to the central team to determine what announcements we'll be making into the future," she said.

Mr Leishman said it was understandable that both parties were focusing on housing, before voters cast their ballots.

Key Labor housing commitments:

$70m to abolish stamp duty for downsizers

$1b housing fast-track fund

$29 million housing skills package to deliver 1,000 new tradies to build homes

$3.6m portable rental bonds scheme

$413.5m to deliver 2,000 rent-to-own homes

$140m for 200 supported accommodation places and renovation of 300 vacant Housing Trust homes

HomeStart low-deposit home loans expansion

Key Liberal housing commitments:

$480m to exempt first home buyers from stamp duty on existing homes up to $1m

$80m for exempting apprentices from payroll tax

$46m downsizer incentive

$40m build better fund

$10m to incentivise mature apprentices to enter the workforce

$6m mortgage waiver fee

$43m other apprenticeship initiatives