7 September 2011
From 1 January 2012, eligibility for the First Home Plus and First Home Plus One (stamp duty concession) schemes will be limited to first home buyers purchasing newly constructed homes, including new homes purchased “off the plan”. The revised First Home Plus and First Home Plus One schemes will provide a full stamp duty exemption for eligible first home buyers purchasing a newly built home costing up to $500,000 and partial transfer duty exemptions for homes costing between $500,000 and $600,000. This measure will raise an extra $ 1 billion for the government. Our media release on the subject is here.
The $7,000 First Home Owner grant will continue to be available for all eligible first home buyers.
The Government has also previously announced a one-off extension of the transfer duty concession for purchasers aged 65 or over, to include people aged 55 or over. The exemption applies to sales between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012. Individuals over 55 years selling an existing property and buying a newly constructed home costing up to $600,000, including “off the plan”, will pay zero transfer duty in 2011-12. The scheme increases incentives for new home construction, which will help to expand the supply of housing and accordingly improve housing affordability. The government has budgeted that this measure will only cost $10 million.
