It’s out with the old and in with the new – but debatably not better – First Home Owners Grant…this time it’s double or nothing.
It seems the NSW government read and reacted to my post on Friday. I had only just written about the calls to increase the First Home Owners Grant to help control housing affordability, when low and behold the state government announced that it’s upping the grant to $15,000. Wow, wish I always possessed such power!
Just one small problem…it’s for purchasers of new properties only and the grants for existing dwellings are being scrapped altogether.
Of course this is great news for first time owner-builders who are up against rising construction costs – but what about the rest of us? Correction – the majority of us.
The vast bulk of all residential property transactions are for existing dwellings. And that’s simply because there’s no land left in the city to build! So basically the grant only benefits the few of us who are looking to build in the outer, outer suburbs of Sydney.
At least it will give a small boost (although temporary) to the flat property market as first-home buyers rush to purchase ahead of the October 1 grant cut-off. Maybe it’s time for me to put my little place on the market and think about building, although I’d need way more than 15 grand to get me started! I wonder if the grant applies to kit and pre-fabricated homes too?!
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