first home buyer

First-home buyers get 'window' of opportunity with Victoria, NSW to cut stamp duty

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After years of double-digit house-price growth in Melbourne and Sydney — things are looking up for first home buyers.

Cuts to stamp duty from July 1 in Victoria and New South Wales will help would-be buyers trying to break into the housing market, as conditions gets tougher for investors.
"There is a window there for first-home buyers and not having a situation we've had in the past, a la the first-home owners scheme which did boost prices," property analyst Louis Christopher said.
Melburnian Pru Kasby has been apartment hunting in the city's inner north for two months.
"It's been pretty difficult to find something affordable and in our price range," she said.

"It's obviously been highly competitive."

But she is hopeful the $30,000 she will save in stamp duty will make it more affordable.
"That's a lot, that's a large portion of our deposit," Ms Kasby said.
"Particularly in the price range we're looking at, that's a significant amount of money to us."

On Monday night, the Victorian Government passed its housing affordability package, which means from July 1 first-home buyers purchasing a property under $600,000 will not pay a cent in stamp duty, and there will be a sliding scale of concessions for properties worth up to $750,000.

There is a similar scheme being introduced in New South Wales too, where homes up to $650,000 will be exempt from stamp duty, and there will be concessions on homes up to $800,000.
Real estate agents said first-home buyers, which make up to around 13 per cent of the market according to the ABS, have been holding off buying until the stamp duty changes.
"As you can imagine, a lot of them are waiting for the day to click over before they purchase their property," agent Andrew Wood said.
Mr Christopher said he had noticed fewer buyers in the marketplace.
"Particularly in New South Wales, where clearance rates have slipped a bit," he said.

"It does indicate to us there has not been as much buyer demand."

The booming prices has largely been driven by investors.
So, at the same time as the stamp duty cuts, investors will start paying more.
And that, coupled with bank restrictions in lending and across-the-board increases in interest only loans means investors are slowly leaving the market.

(Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation )