Sweeping changes mean bad news for First Home buyers in NSW Budget

New laws to pass
It has just been announced that the NSW Government intends to no longer offer stamp duty exemptions for First Home Buyers as of the 1st Jan 2012. Stamp duty exemptions will only be available for new properties.

On a $500K purchase, the exemption equates to $17,990 saving, if this will no longer be the case you will need to find this extra cash yourself.

If you are in a position or have been thinking about buying your first home then you may want to seriously consider buying before the end of the year. Not only will the change mean more savings you will need to contribute, but consider this, if you do wish to build a new home - where is the nearest land release to you? Where will you end up living?

We anticipate that this will mean a price drop in typical "first home buyer" homes for the short term, however, this and the subsequent pressure on rents with more would be buyers renting for longer will certainly see more investors in the NSW market, which in turn could well drive up home prices.

Remember, even if prices temporarily dropped and for example a property worth $500K would then be worth $485K, you still need to come up with the deposit + stamp duty.
Purchase before 1st Jan - Minimum deposit 5% ( $25,000) and no stamp duty
Purchase after 1st Jan - Minimum deposit 5% ( $24,250) + stamp duty ( $17,315) = $41,565
You need to do the maths and work out what is best for you and know that rent prices will go up!

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW THIS COULD AFFECT YOU OR ANOTHER FIRST HOME BUYER YOU KNOW CONTACT US NOW.

Heavily discounted interest rates on offer

On a more positive note, we are seeing lenders offer substantial discounts to grab business from each other,

Your interest rates are discounted on your loan amount and deposit/ equity position. There are lenders who are offering 1% off the SVR for loans above $250K and there are fixed rates as low as 6.34% for 2 and 3 year fixed. If you are even curious about whether you could save money by refinancing now is the time to look at this!

Please call or email to discuss. We don't know how long this interest rate war will go on but one thing is for certain -  then the discounts will go back up to normal levels & if you secure the discounts now, you will have it for life!

Finance Seekers Team