HOUSING AFFORDABILITY and FREE MONEY

There is constant talk about housing affordability (or lack thereof) especially for 1st home buyers. The argument is that housing is getting so expensive that young people are not able to get a foot hold in the market and will be forced to rent forever.

But is this really the case?

While dwelling price to income ratio is an indicator that we like to rely on, is that measurement being exaggerated? How difficult is it to actually get started into your own home?

To assess the situation with any sort of accuracy you cannot look at Australia as one market. There are many sub-markets within that greater market with lots of different dynamics. For example: Sydney is now twice the price of Brisbane so it is hard to draw the same conclusion on those markets by looking at the overall national market.

In this newsletter, I will focus on the Brisbane market.

The median house price in Brisbane is anywhere from $600,000 – $655,000 depending on what agency is dissecting the data. However, you can still get an excellent brand new 4 bed, 2 bath home within 25 km of the city for $500,000 – $550,000. For my take, I think at present it has never easier for a 1st Home buyers to enter into the market. Let’s take a look at what incentives are on offer at the moment.

• $20,000 for the 1st home buyers grant
• Free stamp duty. (This can save around $10,000)
• We are offering another $10,000 builders rebate on top of the $20,000 to help get people started
• 95% lends.  (LVRs)
• Interest rates that are below 4%

This is more than enough to get people started in the market provided that you don’t have huge personal debts and are currently working.

We have made thousands of outbound calls to people renting, who are eligible to get the 1st home buyers grant PLUS our builders rebate of $10,000 but what we have found is that most people just can’t be bothered investigating it. Many would rather complain about how hard it is rather than just getting in there and having a go and try to get ahead.

If you are a 1st home buyer or have a friend or relative who is, please give our office a call to discuss getting the grants and getting started in their own home.