NSW first home scheme won't help $600,000-plus new home buyers
The thresholds for NSW’s new first-home stamp duty scheme were too low, according to the Urban Taskforce, a property development industry group.
The concession reaches its maximum rate at $500,000 and ramps down so that there is no benefit when a first-home buyer purchases a new home valued at more than $600,000.
“The existing first home owners’ grant applies to dwellings up to $750,000 in value,” Taskforce chief executive Aaron Gadiel says.
“We’re surprised that this benchmark hasn’t been used for the amended schemes.
“For example, first-home buyers with young children will struggle to find a three-bedroom apartment in Sydney priced under $600,000.”
The budget papers say that the better targeting of the First Home Plus and First Home Plus One schemes will raise an extra $1.049 billion over four years for the government.
The $7,000 first-home buyer grant continues to be available to all first-home buyers.