First-home buyers set record

Article Category: Demographics

By By Bridget Carter, From: The Australian,, 18 February 2010

FIRST-HOME buyers leapt to the highest level on record during last year, with 191,000 Australians taking their first step on the property ladder.

Last year saw almost 70,000 more first-home buyers pile into the market than in 2008, a 55 per cent leap, according to property research firm RP Data.

The jump is directly linked to the government doubling the first-home buyers grant to $14,000 for existing dwellings and increasing the handout to $21,000 for new dwellings.

The grant boost was phased back in December, The Australian reported. The government's boosted grant was announced in October 2008, providing a stimulus during the global financial crisis.

But adding to the equation was interest rates at 49-year lows.

Cameron Kusher of RP Data said the month that recorded the highest owner-occupier finance commitments was May, when 28.8 per cent of the commitments were from first-home buyers.

"During 2009, owner-occupiers took out finance for approximately 739,000 dwellings, of which 26 per cent was taken out by first-home buyers and the remaining 74 per cent came from non-first-home buyers," Mr Kusher said.