First home buyers in NSW now have a glimmer of hope on the horizon of a dark and hostile property market: the state government is introducing housing affordability reforms from July 1 that will hopefully make getting a foot in the door less a shimmering mirage in the steam coming off your $4 latte, and more a tangible reality.
The main change is to stamp duty, which is a tax charged by the government on almost all property purchases. Until now, first home buyers in NSW were exempt from having to pay the stamp duty, but only if they bought brand new homes or vacant land. So, not super applicable for the vast majority of millennial hopefuls.
But! From July 1, the stamp duty exemption will apply to new, off-the-plan and existing properties costing up to $650,000 – which means scoring that pre-war cottage you’ve been eyeing off just got a whole lot more achievable.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been talking a big game about housing affordability reform since she took the position in January. It’s pretty cool that she’s actually following through with changes. She told the press that hopefully the changes will mean thousands more first home buyers can enter the market.
“This means the NSW government not only has taken seriously the task of addressing housing affordability, but we’ve acted on it.“We know there isn’t a single solution; we know this is a complex challenge. We know how hard it is to save up for your first home, especially in greater Sydney and some regional areas.”
Other reforms will see the 9 per cent duty charged on lenders’ mortgage insurance done away with, and the surcharges for overseas investors doubled. Experts reckon that the changes will save NSW first home buyers up to $24,740 – that’s a lot of smashed avo.
Source: SMH.
Image: Andrew Merry / Getty.
