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The latest NSW budget has been out for a week and it appears that experts are split on how it will affect the first home buyer market.
The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) argues that the government has failed to provide adequate support for people purchasing their first property, saying that despite extending the $15,000 first home buyers grant on new homes to January 1, 2016, the NSW 2013-14 Budget has left FHBs ‘out in the cold’ with the failure to reintroduce the First Home Owners Grant for existing properties.
“The Budget was an opportunity for the NSW Government to reinvigorate the property market with a reduction in stamp duty rates and the reinstatement of first home buyer incentives on existing properties,” REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin says. “They have failed.”
However, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) has countered this standpoint, claiming measures for the demographic will give a boost to the Australian property market. The HIA argues that the budget continues to support FHBs and essential suburban infrastructure.
"We applaud the two-year extension of the $15,000 First Home Owners Grant for buyers of new properties,” says David Bare, HIA NSW executive director .
The HIA says it commends the government's focus on boosting housing delivery across the state, claiming that $302 million allocated from the Housing Acceleration Fund is a positive measure.
Despite this, the HIA has appealed to the government to examine grants for people who are not looking to buy their first home, noting that owners of existing properties only have access to $5,000 in grants.
