ABOUT 140 first-home buyers in the Wimmera have taken advantage of state government stamp duty changes since they took effect in July.
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The Homes for Victorians package abolished stamp duty for first-home buyers purchasing new or existing homes valued up to $600,000, and discounted stamp duty for properties up to $750,000.
The government also doubled the First Home Owner Grant, with first-home buyers in regional Victoria eligible for a $20,000 payment if they buy or build a new home valued up to $750,000 .
Government figures show that in the six months after the changes were introduced on July 1, 137 Wimmera buyers were exempt from stamp duty.
Horsham Rural City had the highest number of exemptions with 56, while Northern Grampians Shire had 27 people who did not have to pay stamp duty.
Ararat Rural City and Yarriambiack Shire had 14 exemptions each, while Hindmarsh Shire had 13, Buloke Shire had nine, and West Wimmera Shire had four.
Four Wimmera people – all in Horsham Rural City – used the first-home owner grant in the same period.
Harcourts Horsham principal Mark Clyne said the government changes made a difference in the Wimmera.
“They have certainly helped,” he said.
“Because the government announced them so far out from when they took effect, there were a few who would always jump on them in that first month or two after they came in, but then it slowed off back to normal levels.
“The government has had first-home initiatives for a long time, so it doesn’t have that big impact like when they first did it.
“It sort of levels out.”
Mr Clyne said trends showed some of the region’s younger buyers were waiting later than previously to buy or build a home.
“Some of the younger generation are making that commitment later in life, a bit like marriage,” he said.
“The median age for marriage is about 30 now, and home buying to a point has taken on that trend.”
Mr Clyne said some people who might once have been first-home buyers were instead first-home builders, because grants and low interest rates meant they could afford to build.
“As long as interest rates stay low, I think that will continue,” he said.
Mr Clyne said people in the $350,000 to $450,000 home bracket particularly were weighing up whether to buy a good secondhand house for that price, or build new.
“We are also seeing some people who have bought their first house and are living in it, then building a new home and keep their existing home as a rental,” he said.