First home buyers in the Hunter would be able to save up to $32,000 under Labor’s Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme announced today.
The plan aims to help first home buyers, who have lived in a region for more than 12 months, get into a house sooner with a deposit of just five per cent without the need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance, saving up to $32,000.
Labor would provide a guarantee of up to 15 per cent of the value of the property purchased.
If elected, Labor would put the scheme into place to benefit regions where the cost of buying a house has increased exponentially.
In places like Cessnock house prices have gone up 33.3 per cent, and even more on the Central Coast. At Terrigal house prices have increased by 45.2 per cent.
Under the plan in Newcastle the scheme would be available for properties capped at $800,000.
Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness Jason Clare is in the Hunter today to announce the plan for regional NSW and says it’s nothing but good for regional first home buyers.
“It will operate like the current scheme the Federal Government has but bigger. It will be triple the size, it’ll help triple the size of regional Aussies who need a helping hand to buy their first home. So if you’ve got a 5 per cent deposit, this scheme will cover, or guarantee, the next 15 per cent so that you don’t have to pay mortgage insurance. If you don’t have 20 er cent when you go to the bank as a deposit to get a mortgage the bank will ask you to pay mortgage insurance and that can sometimes cost you up to $30,000,” he said.
“If you earn under $125,0000 a year or as a couple under $200,000 a year this scheme is for you.”
“It’s designed to help young couples out there in the regions that have got a 5 per cent deposit but are struggling to get to that 20 per cent deposit to be able to buy the home sooner and stop renting and get into that first home without having to be slugged by that awful big bill of mortgage lenders insurance.”
Image credit: Jason Clare Facebook page