- Suite 17 / 79 Manningham Road, Bulleen VIC 3105
- 0406 197 099
- hello@pmafinance.com.au
First home buyers in regional Victoria get a boost from state government
OECD warns of ‘rout’ in house prices if investors head for the doors
03/03/2017
Australian dollar sheds more than 1pc amid resurgent greenback
03/03/2017
The state government will double the first home owners grant for regional Victoria in a bid to draw more young buyers into the regions and counter the capital’s housing affordability crisis.
First home buyers building new homes in regional Victoria will be entitled to $20,000 as of July 1 this year, up from $10,000 for new homes valued up to $750,000.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said he expected the new grant would increase buyer interest in regional cities like Ballarat and promote decentralisation by drawing young people out of the state’s congested capital.
The government expects the grant to assist up to 6000 Victorian first home buyers.
“Decentralisation is a vital part of our agenda. You can’t decentralise unless you provide people with housing opportunities and you make housing affordable, as a package of initiatives this is far and away in excess of what any other state has done,” Mr Pallas told the Ballarat Courier.
“These are specific initiatives targeted at regional Victoria because we do think it’s a vote of confidence that regional Victoria is an attractive place to live.”
The new grant is also expected to increase the uptake of the first home buyers grant, which dropped to its lowest point in more than a decade in 2014-2015.
The number of people who received the first home buyers grant dropped to just 10,000 grants in 2014-2015, down from a peak of 45,000 in 2009-2010, state revenue office data showed.
Changes to the grant in July 2013 meant first home owners could not apply for the $10,000 boost if they were looking to buy an existing property.
Grants in 2014-2015 were concentrated in the urban fringes of Melbourne.
The doubled grant will be applicable to contracts signed from July 1 2017 to June 30, 2020.
A government spokesman said the grant will then be reviewed to see the benefits for first home buyers and businesses in regional Victoria.
He said the change would make it easier for young people in regional Victoria to build and live in their own community, as well as boost local construction jobs and development.
