Carmen and Troy Bull still managed to get their dream home in AVID’s Chambers Ridge community in the second half of 2022 despite being ineligible for FHOG because one of them owned property before.
New data shows the number of first homebuyer grants paid out by the Qld government has halved so far this financial year – dropping over $42m year-on-year to worse levels than pre-Covid.
Qld Treasury first homebuyer grants payout data showed that over the six months to the end of December there were 2,457 payments made amounting to $36.88m – a 53 per cent fall compared to the corresponding period in 2021-2022 and 52 per cent less than 2020-2021’s figures.
Shockingly, it was also 23 per cent lower than grant payouts made during the first six months of 2019-2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
The Logan-Beaudesert region had the highest FHOG payments during those six months – 423 payments worth $6.341m – which mirrors the 2021-2022 financial year when 1360 payments were made to build homes there worth over $20.4m in grants.
The Sunshine Coast had the second highest level with 356 payments worth $5.339m, overtaking Ipswich where 270 FHOG payments were made valued at $4.056m.
AVID Property Group’s Chambers Ridge masterplanned community in Park Ridge, Logan has continued to see strong interest from FHBs.
PropTrack shows first homebuyer interest has begun to pick up in other areas, dominated by searches for units which made up 60 per cent of the top 10 suburb inquiries, with the most popular areas being Brisbane City, South Brisbane, West End, Toowong and Chermside in the capital city, and Surfers Paradise, Southport, Palm Beach and Broadbeach for regional Qld.
PropTrack head of economic research Cameron Kusher does not expect a big rebound in first homebuyer numbers “unless the government does something to stimulate FHB activity”.
“For the moment it is cheaper to be paying rent rather than servicing a mortgage so I think that will continue to lead to fewer first home buyers,” he said.
AVID Property Group’s Qld CM Bruce Harper said $15,000 towards the purchase or construction of a new house, unit or townhouse was “a substantial amount of money for young people trying to get a foothold in the property market”.
He said residential communities in the Logan-Beaudesert region like Chambers Ridge were seeing strong interest from first home buyers – helped by the fact that the builder, Villaworld Homes by AVID, carried the majority of costs until settlement.
“We’ve settled 42 homes in Chambers Ridge since the start of the 2022 year, with a further forty-eight properties under contract to settle this financial year, leaving just over 10 homes on the market. Buyer inquiry remains strong with first-home buyers dominating inquiries. They represent 32 per cent of all inquiries at Chambers Ridge this year.’’
FHB Troy Bull bought into the community late last year, with his partner Carmen, their 11-year-old daughter and two miniature sausage dogs, Trixie and Kirra.
While the purchase was Mr Bull’s first home, the couple were ineligible for the First Home Owners Grant because his wife Carmen had previously bought a townhouse – but they managed to go ahead regardless.
“We were given a plan of the land sizes and a copy of all the house plans that were attached to them which gave us the opportunity to choose a design that suited our family. That took away a lot of stress,’’ Mrs Bull said. “There were also no progress payments after the initial deposit which was fantastic.”
“Despite Queensland’s extreme flooding earlier in 2022 and building material delays, we were really pleased with how simple and efficient the whole process was.”
*This post was originally published on https://www.realestate.com.au/news/new-data-shows-dramatic-fall-in-qld-first-homeowner-grant-payouts/
