Author: Real Estate Institute of Australia
The announcement that the FederalBudget 2022 will unlock 50,000 new places for the First Home Loan DepositScheme (FLHDS) has been applauded by the Real Estate Institute of Australia(REIA).
REIA President Mr Hayden Groves saidthis significant investment in the Great Australian Dream shows confidence thatthe FHLDS scheme is serving Australias $9.9 trillion-dollar private propertymarkets well.
National Housing Finance andInvestment Corporation (NHFIC) estimates that around 15 per cent of Australianhouseholds are prospective homeowners and this announcement makes that dreamone step closer for those Australians who are eligible, Mr Groves said.
The number of first home buyersdecreased to 37,620 in the quarter, a decrease of 18.3 per cent over the past12 months.
At the same time the average loansize increased to $470,548, an increase of 12.9 per cent over the same period.
35,000 places for first home buyerswith additional targeted measures of 5000 for the Family Home Guarantee and10,000 for a newly created tranche called the Regional Home Guarantee arewelcomed, Mr Groves said.
This is the combined equivalent ofaround $24 billion in guarantees and around $30 billion in sales to first homebuyers based on the median home loan of $470,548.
The long-term support and expansionof FHLDS was a priority under REIAs Getting Real.
REIA supported this innovation inpublic policy when it was first announced in the Federal Election 2019 and theprogram has gone from strength to strength.
Now up to 1 in 10 first home buyersutilise the Guarantee program with 6,000 of Australias key workers securingtheir first home through this program our COVID-19 heroes.
With household budgets underpressure in 2022, home ownership is one of the pathways to reduce hip pocketchallenges.
The REIA Housing AffordabilityReport showed the long-term benefits of entering the housing market, Mr Grovessaid.
First home buyers purchasing in NewSouth Wales in 2016 were paying less than median rent in under five years, inSouth Australia under four years, in Tasmania nine months, the NorthernTerritory four and a half years and in the Australian Capital Territory around twoyears.
Access to the market for first homebuyers was at its best in June 2009, when 48.2 per cent of all new loans werefrom first home buyers. In contrast, in March 2004 only 21.8 per cent of newloans were from first home buyers. By December 2021 first home buyers made up34.1 per cent of all new housing loans.
Mr Groves said with a tripling ofthe scheme from an initial 10,000 places in 2019, Australians looking to buytheir first home should seek advice on accessing the scheme.
With these new places coming onlineyou will have more opportunity than ever to secure a place, we stronglyencourage interested first home buyers to speak with their mortgage broker.
Mr Groves said he looked forward tothe additional detail for the Regional Home Guarantee for new dwellings butsaid that more would need to be done to unlock supply.
