Re-Balancing The Market

Posted by Dominic Cavagnino

As you may be aware, the much-anticipated arrival of Daniel Joseph’s son has left him out of action and left me to deliver some controversial news!

The recent announcement to a change in Victorian legislation has prompted us to discuss what this means for our clients.

Victoria, unlike, our other states has always had the sweet appeal of off-the-plan stamp duty concessions. This has meant that when purchasing property off-the-plan, buyers were only required to pay stamp duty on the undeveloped value of the land (at times a saving of around $20,000). This incentive is currently only applicable in Victoria. It has never been a reason to purchase a property but has been one of the great value adds of purchasing a new apartment in Melbourne.

As a result of Melbourne’s over-achieving housing market affecting the states housing affordability, the Victorian Government have taken a step toward helping first home buyers crack the market. To achieve this, they have ruled out off-the-plan stamp duty concessions, and introduced stamp duty free purchases for first home buyers. The removal of the current stamp duty scheme will put Victoria in line with other states. The positive side is that the change reflects the strong performance of the Melbourne market. When making these changes, the Government is often short-sighted and fail to see the real impact this may have on first home buyers. When a similar scheme was introduced in Sydney, it drove prices upward, it resulted in an influx of demand for properties of high appeal to first home buyers.

The new initiative is effective as of 1 July 2017. This means that buyers between now and then have an opportunity to benefit from this incentive.

With our upcoming Property Showcase dominated by Melbourne properties, this is a great opportunity for our clients to capitalise on two outstanding opportunities. Book now!

Posted by Dominic Cavagnino, on 7th Mar 2017