A NUMBER of factors have come together to create perfect conditions for first home buyers to enter the property market.
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Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that in June, 2018, first home buyers accounted for 18.1 per cent of the new mortgages given out, the highest in six years.
As a result, first home buyers are becoming more active in the market.
READ ALSO: Answers to some FAQs for first home buyers
Bathurst real estate agents have seen more of first home buyers recently.
One Agency Bestwick Real Estate owner Mitchell Bestwick said there has been a noticeable change over the past 12 months.
“We’ve had a very good last 12 months of seeing a lot of first home buyers entering the market,” he said.
“It has come right through the price ranges, so from your entry level home right up to your $500,000 homes.”
He said there are a number of things making it easier for first home buyers to purchase property.
These include a $10,000 grant for new homes and stamp duty exemption for all properties, both applicable to new home buyers only, as well as low interest rates.
Adding to this, Bathurst is beneficial to people just entering the property market.
“There is a lot of positives about Bathurst, affordability being one, and that there is a lot of growth; that allows them to build up wealth,” Mr Bestwick said, adding that a stable economy is also a factor.
Professionals Real Estate agent Brent Osborne has also seen more activity from first home buyers.
Mr Osborne said the Bathurst market has always seen a good number of first home buyers, but there has been an increase over the past six to 12 months.
“I wouldn’t say there has been a dramatic increased, but there are more first home buyers,” he said.
From his experience, first home buyers are looking at properties in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range that don’t need much work as the “home handy man is dead in a lot of ways”.
“They want to do a lot of work, a lot of them really want something that is pretty livable as it stands or a new home,” Mr Osborne said.
He agreed that the low interest rates and new assistance for first home buyers were making a difference.
“To have the stamp duty exemption on any home for a first home buyer has been a really good thing,” he said.
Bathurst’s affordability was another point Mr Osborne could agree with Mr Bestwick on, but he said that it is also attracting other kinds of home buyers from Sydney, who are getting more for their money.
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