First Home Buyer

19/03/2017

How to budget for a home on a low income

If you’re slogging it out in a 9-to-5 job for what feels like a pittance, you’ve got the double whammy of rising house prices and a low income, and the goal of home ownership can seem even more hopeless. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average annual earnings for Aussie employees is just over $60,000, a level at which the tax office gives you a low-income tax offset. So there are plenty of others out there scratching their […]
10/03/2017

Increased pressure on Federal Budget to use taxes to help first-home buyers

STATE governments are holding the Federal Government responsible for the big solution to the housing affordability crisis hitting major capitals. Treasurer Scott Morrison is under increasing pressure to use powerful taxation levers in the upcoming Budget to move the market away from investors and in favour of first-home buyers. That could mean reducing capital gains tax relief, and limiting or removing negative gearing tax concessions. The pressure increased today as the Reserve Bank left interest rates untouched while warning that […]
08/03/2017

Real estate price quotes for Victoria to cause confusion with new laws on the way

Confused about the conflicting terms that real estate agents use to quote the likely selling prices for properties? Then get set for the uncertainty to intensify – at least for the next few months. Many agents are adopting highly divergent approaches to quoting prices in the countdown period to the Victorian government’s introduction of new laws to clamp down on underquoting by agents. The most widely used terms include “offers above,” “price on application” or no price indication at all. […]
05/03/2017

First home buyers: Stamp duty cuts for houses worth up to $600,000

Tens of thousands of first home buyers will no longer have to pay stamp duty on properties worth up to $600,000 under an Andrews government plan to make housing more affordable. Long-awaited reforms to be unveiled on Sunday will give new home owners savings of up to $15,000 by exempting them from stamp duty on new and existing properties, in a bid to help more Victorians to break into the expensive housing market. A $50 million pilot program will also […]
04/03/2017

First Homeowner Grant to double in regional Victoria

FIRST homebuyers might want to think about moving to regional Victoria. Just days after Premier Daniel Andrews announced his plan to tackle affordability by unlocking 17 new suburbs in Melbourne, the government has doubled the First Home Owner Grant in regional Victoria. Commencing 1 July 2017, the grant will increase from $10,000 to $20,000 and is expected to help 6000 first home buyers in regional Victoria to build and live in their own community. “By doubling this grant, we’re giving […]