REIWA CEO Cath Hart (pictured above) has welcomed the increases to Keystart’s property price limits and income limits, noting they will help more Western Australians achieve affordable homeownership sooner.
The new limits will be set using REIWA median house prices and regularly reviewed to reflect market conditions.
“Keystart provides a valuable service. It offers loans with as little as 2% deposit and doesn’t charge lender’s mortgage insurance, which is of great benefit to Western Australians who find it difficult to get a loan with a traditional lender,” Hart said.
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“The loans are subject to price and income limits, which have been unchanged for some time, and the strong property price increases of recent years have resulted in many people being unable to access these loans,” Hart said.
“Lifting the price and income thresholds means the loans will be available to more Western Australians, allowing them to make the move into homeownership.”
Hart emphasised REIWA’s involvement in the review process.
“As the peak body for real estate in WA, we have unique insights into the WA property market and our data shows what is happening now,” she said.
“Linking the price limits to REIWA’s medians means they will reflect actual market conditions and can move with the market as it changes. This will ensure as many people as possible remain eligible for Keystart loans.”
In addition to changing the price limits, Keystart has updated its income limits to reflect the income required to service the property price limits.
The new property price limits and income limits took effect from July. See new limits in the image below.
Work is currently underway to determine the most appropriate settings for the Kimberley and Pilbara regions to ensure both the low deposit home loan and shared equity home loan settings can align with the unique market conditions for these regions.
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