Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's The Real Estate Podcast, brought to you by Ray White, the largest real estate and property group in Australasia. And welcome to another episode of The Real Estate Podcast, available on iHeartRadio, also on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast from.
Well, another Saturday has rolled around already, March the 26th, and if you're attending an auction today and hoping to secure that home, all the very best of luck. May the opposition bidders fall away very quickly in the bidding. And talking of the opposition...
Coming up in just a moment, we're going to have a look at the news about how an Albanese Labor government will help 10,000 first home buyers a year in regional Australia to buy a home. First home buyers, they say, will save up to $32,000 in mortgage insurances and be able to secure a home with a deposit as low as 5%. with the government guaranteeing up to 15% of the purchase price.
Labour's plan will bring home ownership back into reach, they say, for tens of thousands of Australians in regional Australia over the next few years. It's the main centre forecast with propertybuyer.com.au. All right, let's have a look at the weather. Firstly, for Sydney, expecting some showers today with a high of 24 degrees. Melbourne, mostly fine, 24 degrees.
And in Brisbane, expecting showers with 26 degrees. And in Perth, expect a high of 30 degrees, showers and a possible storm. It's your weekend real estate podcast. As mentioned, Labor says that the housing crisis is hitting regional Australia the hardest with many regional areas facing the largest drops in housing affordability.
They say the cost of buying a house in regional areas has gone up faster than in capital cities on average. At the same time, rent in many places has jumped by thousands of dollars a year. Existing programs for first home buyers, they say, are fully subscribed and many Australians are missing out. So what are the details?
Well, Labour's regional first home buyer support scheme will help 10,000 first home buyers a year in regional Australia to buy a home. This will approximately triple the number of people in regional areas who can access a government guarantee scheme.
Labor's Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme will provide a government guarantee of up to 15% for eligible first home buyers so locals with a 5% deposit can avoid paying mortgage insurance saving up to $32,000. And to take advantage of the scheme, locals will need to live outside a capital city and
be a first home buyer who is an Australian citizen over 18, live in the house purchased, have a taxable income of up to $125,000 per year for singles and up to $200,000 a year for couples. And to that point,
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Chapter 2: What support is the Albanese Labor Government providing for first home buyers?
Yeah, and the regional price caps would mean participants could only buy below medium priced homes in their city or region. And the scheme would start with a trial, I think, of 5,000 places a year for the first three years. And at that point, the scheme would be reviewed and if deemed successful, then expanded out. That's right.
So again, like the income thresholds, you're wanting to target this scheme at those that wouldn't buy otherwise. So the income thresholds are one way you do that. The other way you do that is you say, well, look, this is really only for a scheme for people that are going to buy relatively cheap houses. In Sydney, there aren't many houses that are particularly cheap.
So we've proposed a threshold there of, say, $800,000. Now, that would cover more than half of apartments in Sydney, but only 25% of houses. And what that means is that if you are buying one of those homes, it's going to be for people who really, they'll only use this scheme if they have to. It won't be for people who could buy more and decide to use this scheme to get some cheaper finance.
We would have different price caps, say, in Melbourne, in regional Australia, to reflect the fact that prices vary so much across Australia.
Chapter 3: How much can first home buyers save with the new scheme?
And this is one of the ways, again, of just making sure the scheme is actually targeted at those that need it. We would start with 5,000 places a year because, you know, if you're setting up something like this, the government's going to have to be in a position...
where it can do the paperwork, it can make sure and assess people are eligible, work with private banks because a private bank would provide the loan for 65% of the purchase price. That is how some of the existing state schemes work. So there's a new Victorian scheme that private banks provide the rest of the finance.
But if you tried to open it up too quickly, one, you'd probably hit demand more. But two, it's probably too difficult for the federal government to roll something out at full scale. So therefore, you put that 5,000 a year cap on it, see how it goes. And then if it looks like it's working, then you can expand it further.
So that is quite a big difference when you consider that the taxable income for the Labour proposal is up to $125,000 per year for singles and up to $200,000 for couples. Also, as part of the criteria, you would have been living in the region for at least 12 months. Also, you would meet the property price thresholds for the region under the existing first home loan deposit scheme.
And Labour says that existing houses, townhouses and units would be part of the scheme, along with house and land packages, off-the-plan apartments and land with a contract to build. So let's have a look at the eligible regions and local price caps and mortgage insurance savings, which are the following. So looking at New South Wales, this includes Illawarra, Central Coast and Newcastle.
Property price cap of up to $800,000 and the maximum mortgage insurance savings would be just under $32,000. In Victoria, in Geelong, property price cap would be set at $700,000 and you would save maximum mortgage insurance around just under $28,000. In Queensland, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, the property price cap $600,000 and you would save around $23,500.
In Western Australia, $400,000 would be the property price cap and you would be saving around just under $12,000. Tasmania, the property price cap would be $400,000, saving around $11,000. South Australia, $350,000, the property price cap. and saving $10,000. And Northern Territory, around $500,000 with the property price cap, and you would be saving just under $15,000.
So of course, some people will say some of those price caps are getting rather on the lowish side. We connect you to the best real estate information across Australia, The Real Estate Podcast.
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