New research shows Victoria’s first home buyers are missing out on the concession that could save them thousands of dollars and help them take that first step into the property market.
Victoria’s first home buyer concession scheme waives the stamp duty for first home purchases of up to $600,000 and discounts it for the balance of purchases made up to $750,000. The problem is, there are just 19 Melbourne suburbs with median prices currently under the $600,000 cap (according to PropTrack median house price data) which means many first home buyers are unable to benefit from the extra cash afforded by a stamp duty waiver.
The Opposition has advised of their plan to raise the cap to $1m, potentially adding a further 204 suburbs into the mix, but with the next state election almost 18 months away that is of little use to first home buyers right now. And with Victoria’s home values tipped to rise between 6 and 10 per cent over the next year, those 19 suburbs could easily dwindle to almost none in the meantime.
Jacob Caine from the REIV says the current state government needs to adopt the Opposition’s idea immediately, suggesting that if they don’t it is because they need the stamp duty revenue from Melbourne’s first home buyers.
Lenders are calling for the state government to review the concession scheme which hasn’t been updated since 2017 and is preventing first home buyers from purchasing in suburbs that are close to their families and employment.
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