The start of the new financial year sees changes to some states’ First Home Buyers Grant – some advantageous and others not so welcome.
From July 1, first time buyers of new property (existing properties don’t qualify) in NSW are now eligible for a First Home Buyers Grant of $15,000 grant on purchases up to $750,000, increasing the threshold from $650,000.
“The latest figures show the number of grants has increased significantly over the past financial year,” says NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance. “First homeowner grants for new homes were 46 per cent higher in the four months to April 2014 compared to the same period the year before.”
However, the end of June marked the end of an era for South Australia’s First Home Owners Grant of $5000 with it ceasing to exist in its current form. REISA chief executive officer Greg Troughton says, “The one saving grace for South Australian homebuyers was the First Home Owners Grant for established homes. Although this has dropped to $5000 in recent years, it did go some way to ameliorating the effects of a $20,000 stamp duty for those wishing to buy their first home at the current median price.”
Western Australia and Tasmania are now the only states with assistance for first homebuyers purchasing established housing.
For the first time in 14 years, this grant will cease and Troughton says this is disappointing. In replacement of the grant will be $15,000 for new homes only, up to the value of $575,000. He says while the REISA recognises the significant levels of assistance currently provided by the State Government towards the purchase of new homes, the vast majority of first homebuyers (90.7 per cent in South Australia) purchase established rather than new homes.
Western Australia and Tasmania are now the only states with assistance for first homebuyers purchasing established housing. Those states that have abolished their first home owner grants for established homes have consistently seen ever diminishing numbers of first homebuyers within the umbrella of total finance commitments.
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