Thursday, 30 July 2020

Screwball scramble

Deposit scheme scramble

As REA Group, correctly anticipated, first homeuyer numbers are getting set to rip higher.

The Australian reports today that well over 4,000 of the 10,000 places made available for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme (FHLDS) effective 1 July have been reserved in less than four weeks. 

The federal government is therefore considering extending the scheme reports the article:


The FHLDS potentially allows thousands of first homebuyers to buy using only a 5 per cent deposit. 

With all of the other grants and stamp duty exemptions being thrown in around the country, it's no surprise that first homebuyers are taking advantage of the lowest mortgage rates in history to take the plunge. 

New houses have been particularly popular for FHLDS applicants...more so than apartments and townhomes.  

First homebuyer numbers had slowed in May, but now look set to retake decade highs.


Meanwhile the New South Wales government looks set to have another crack at Build to Rent by offering land tax discounts.

It's an overrated and misunderstood concept which rarely seems to work well, as I discussed here last year