ONE in three new home buyers accessed grants including the First Home Buyers Guarantee in the past financial year, a study by Housing Australia recently reported. Aayush Gupta is one of these new home owners set to call Ipswich home, with the land on which he plans to build having been registered this month in the booming suburb of Ripley. Mr Gupta told Local Ipswich News that he would recommend the schemes and grants to all new buyers, having accessed both First Home Buyers Guarantee and Home Guarantee Scheme. “These schemes helped me to get into the market and own a house, which is why I would recommend them,” he said.
“I chose Ipswich as I couldn’t afford in Brisbane and the Ipswich region is really developing. I have never lived in Ipswich before, but I really like Ripley, Deebing Heights and Springfield because they are well connected to Brisbane city.” Mr Gupta said he was excited to have been able to enter the housing market and that the process to access the grants was easy for him. “It is easy if you are with a broker,” he said. “I went with a broker who was well aware of both schemes and who had done it before. I also found it easier after deciding to go with a bank who considered the $30,000 grant as part of the initial deposit.”
Local broker and owner of LoanMarket Greater Springfield, Mark Winter, said that among his clients buying in the Ipswich region, those accessing the schemes would be close to two from three. “With the market growing, and pricing where it is, first home buyers are taking advantage of the schemes to get them into their first home,” he said. “Ipswich offers a great opportunity to secure their first home under the scheme thresholds along with the new stamp duty concessions given the median prices in the area.”
Broker and state president of the Finance Brokers Association of Australasia, Scott Beattie, said the results from the Trends and Insights Report were proof that the government schemes were working. “As a broker, I have seen a big uptake of the Home Guarantee Scheme, especially with the Queensland $30k First Home Owners Grant,” Mr Beattie said. “First home buyers are the bigger winners of this scheme, and many first home buyers that I see are often closer than they realise to purchasing their first home. They have often heard from someone or read a media report that it’s ‘impossible’ for first home buyers. In my experience, the Home Guarantee Scheme is definitely helping first home buyers enter the market.”
