Queensland First Home Owners Grant To Be Reduced By July 2018
If you’re thinking of taking advantage of The First Home Owners Grant (FHOG), you better take action now.
The FHOG will be cut down from $20,000 to $15,000 starting July 1, 2018. This was revealed when the 2018-2019 budget was handed down on Tuesday afternoon. The government confirmed the $15,000 is to purchase new houses, units or townhouses valued at less than $750,000 and this would be ongoing.
The FHOG was given a $5000 boost on July 2016 in which an initial 12-month measure was put in place. Due to its success in encouraging first home buyers, it was extended twice at 6-month intervals – to the end of 2017 and to June 30 of this year.
In 2017, Queensland first-home buyer loan approvals increased by nearly 20 per cent. This happened during the first 12 months of the grant, making Queensland, the sunshine state, Australia’s first home buyer capital of 2017. Since then the market continues to thrive every time the grant was extended.
Master Builders deputy CEO, Paul Bidwell said the $5000 loss would be felt by many prospective young buyers and Queensland builders as well. He added that budget measures would lead to a rise in the cost of building a new home.
“We’ve had some of the state’s largest builders tell us that this amount can make or break whether a first-home buyer will get a loan or not. This is a very big deal to a lot of our builders, particularly those in the regional areas.” Bidwell said. “A lot of first-home buyers are flying pretty close to the wings and $5000 is a lot of money to lose.” “There is no denying it was a foot in the door for first home buyers,” he added.
In spite of the $5000 reduction in the rate of the grant, the good news is that the First Home Owners Grant has been continued. To be eligible for the current rate of $20,000, you must have a signed contract by the end of June 30, 2018.
For the next couple of weeks, we at No Deposit First Homes highly encourage you to take action. We will be glad to help you with processing your application for the First Home Owners Grant.
Call us now at 0499 136 136, so you can book an appointment with one of our home experts.