Help for first home buyers
The past 2 years haven’t been overly kind to those trying to purchase a first home. First there was the economic crisis where job security eroded almost overnight, and then there was a sharp increase in official interest rate rises. Recently however, industry experts have been pointing to research that shows, buying a home in Australia may have started to become more affordable.
While talk of a housing bubble should probably be discounted, it’s looking more and more likely that the dramatic increase in Australian housing prices looks to finally be slowing down. For those who had given up searching for their first home it’s probably worth remembering that first home buyers in Australia are still eligible for monetary assistance from both Federal and State governments.
Federal - First Home Owner Grant
The First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) is an initiative of the Australian Government to assist first home buyers to purchase their home. For eligible first home buyers, the First Home Owner Grant Scheme provides a $7,000 grant.
NSW
This state’s First Home Plus Scheme provides exemptions on stamp duty on the purchase of a home of up to $500,000 (and reductions up $600,000). The exemption from stamp duty could save you $17,990, and when combined with the FHOG means you are looking at saving $24,990 on the right property. Alternatively, if you are looking at buying vacant land the state government will waive any stamp duty on a value of up to $300,000.
Victoria
The Victorian state government has the First Home Bonus which grants first home buyers up to $13,000 for the purchase of new homes up to $600,000. To be eligible for this scheme a property contract must entered between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011. When added to the FHOG, buyers could save up to $20,000.
Queensland
Queenslanders are eligible for a concession of up to $8750 on a property purchase price of not more than $504,999.99. In this scenario, Queenslanders are looking at a combined benefit of up to $15,750 when pooled together with the FHOG.
Regional areas
For those looking to purchase a new home or build one in regional areas between 1 June 2010 and 30 June 2011, there is an additional $4,000 in the form of Regional First Home Owner Grant. Combined with FHOG, benefits of up to $11,000 are available in this situation.
For more information on any of these schemes and information on how to apply visit www.firsthome.gov.au.
