Signal boost
In a throwback to the Rudd stimulus days - which saw a boost to the housing market during the financial crisis - the Prime Minister announced today that effective 1 January 2020 first homebuyers with a 5 per cent deposit will be able to buy their first home with government assistance.
The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme is also intended to help first homebuyers by paying for the associated Lenders Mortgage Insurance, and will be made available for first homebuyers earning up to $125,000 (or $200,000 for couples).
Labor moved quickly to label the move as 'desperate', with plenty of tut-tutting ensuing.
For what it's worth, the details of the Lib policy are here.
The Labor Party has looked suspiciously as though it's been making its housing policies up on the fly for several years now, with flawed modelling to boot.
Given that the ALP has proposed a landmark (and potentially destabilising) change to the way in which investment housing is taxed alongside a doubling of capital gains tax, any further policy tweaks should merit careful thought.
Or so one might be forgiven for thinking.
Or so one might be forgiven for thinking.
Nothing was left to chance with regards to bungled modelling this time around, however - the opposition offered to match the Lib's policy announcement within a matter of hours to neutralise any effect on polling.
So there we have it: a first home buyer boost effective 1 January to lob into the hotchpotch.
So there we have it: a first home buyer boost effective 1 January to lob into the hotchpotch.
Lest anyone had forgotten, from March 2018 a Royal Commission into banking and financial services misconduct spent countless hours scrutinising lending practices, the full investigation comprising seven agonising rounds of public hearings.
The final report was delivered in February 2019.
