In the past two years, Victorians buying their first home have saved more than a billion dollars in stamp duty concessions and first home buyer grants thanks to the Homes for Victorians Initiative.
At a time when ownership numbers in Victoria are at their lowest with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ 2017-2018 Survey of Income and Housing revealing just 68.3% of the sate’s residents own their own home, the lowest figure since the survey started more 25 years ago in 1994. In the outer south-east suburbs of Melbourne, especially in and around the suburbs of Pakenham, those numbers are on the rise.
Real estate Pakenham ranks amongst the top ten places (ranked 6th) in Victoria where first home buyers have taken advantage of getting their foot into the property market with over 1200 buyers taking advantage of the government concessions and grants in the past two years.
One of the lesser-known initiatives is the HomesVic shared equity scheme, which opened on the 19th of February 2018 and is on-going until all 400 applications have been filled, which currently sits at over 200. The initiatives helps first home buyers purchase a home and qualify for a home loan with a deposit of only 5% or more.
To be eligible to apply for the HomesVic shared equity scheme you must:
- be an Australian citizen or have permanent-resident status
- have been residing in Victoria for the past 2 years
- be aged 18 years or older
- be a ‘natural person’ (that is, not an organisation, company, trust, or other body)
- be a first home buyer. You qualify as a first home buyer if you or your spouse do not currently own or previously owned all or part of a residential property
- be buying the property as your principal place of residence
- have a deposit of at least 5% made up of genuine savings. Genuine savings means savings that you have accumulated over time. They can include shares and managed funds, if the original investment was made with genuine savings
- earn no more than $77,325 for sole person households per year, or $97,945 for multiple person households
- not have other loans or debts that add up to more than $10,000. If you have a HELP debt, that does not count towards the $10,000 limit. This debt limit includes the credit card limit on any credit card/s in your name, not the amount owing
- not be related to, or associated with, the vendor of the property being purchased
- buy a property that meets the requirements for property type and location. See the list of eligible property types and locations under How to apply
To find out more go to https://www.vic.gov.au/homesvic-shared-equity-initiative
According to realestate.com.au Pakenham has a median house price of $495,000 which is lower than Victoria’s median house price of $590,000. This is great news for those looking to get their foot in the market and enjoy the comfort and security of owning their own home.
When you are ready to buy or sell we offer the latest digital conveyancing services and our property lawyers ave successfully helped countless people with a variety of conveyancing matters, call 03 5941 1622 for more information or contact us here.