Buying your first home in 2024 is a big deal. It’s not only a huge financial commitment but can be made seriously confusing by all of the jargon and different incentives that are involved. In this article, we break down what’s available to NSW and Sydney First Home Buyers in terms of concessions, incentives and grants.
First Home Buyer transfer duty exemption or concession
A transfer duty concession is exactly what you think it is – a concession on the amount of transfer duty you are required to pay. The first home buyer transfer duty exemption is where you don’t pay any stamp duty at all. This applies across Sydney and New South Wales.
If the property you buy is valued at less than $800,000 then you don’t have to pay any transfer duty in New South Wales. Based on a property of $600,000 that’s a savings of up to $21,529. So it’s a pretty generous chunk of money the state government are forgoing to help you get into your first home.
If the property is worth $800,000 up to $1,000,000 then you pay transfer duty on a sliding scale. You can calculate your transfer duty here on the NSW Revenue website.
First Home Owner Grant New South Wales
The First Home Owners Grant is different to the first home buyers stamp duty exemption or concession in that the government actually gives you money – $10,000 worth if you buy or build a new property in Sydney or New South Wales. With the introduction of the stamp duty concession, the First Home Owners Grant is only available to anyone who is building or buying a brand new property. If you are buying an established property unfortunately there is no First Home Owner Grant.
First Home Buyers Grant eligibility
To be eligible to receive the $10,000 the First Home Owners Grant, you need to be buying a new property valued up to $600,000 that has never been lived in OR be building a new property valued up to $750,000 (including land and build). If you purchase a home that was substantially renovated by the vendor, the purchase price can’t exceed $600,000.
There are some other criteria too, you can check your First Home Buyers Grant eligibility online here by answering a few questions on the State Revenue Office website.
First Home Guarantee
The First Home Guarantee (formerly First Home Loan Deposit Scheme) is a Federal Government scheme designed to support eligible First Home Buyers nationwide, in New South Wales and across Sydney. Usually, a deposit of 20% is required to buy your home without paying LMI, however, the NHFIC are guaranteeing up to 15% of your deposit if you are eligible for the scheme. This means you would only need 5% deposit to purchase your first home. There are limits on the property value but in good news the scheme has been expanded to a further 35,000 borrowers per financial year across 27 different lenders.
You can download the fact sheet here.
First Home Buyers Super Saver Scheme
The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you save money in your superannuation, allowing you to save faster than outside super thanks to concessional tax treatment within your super fund.
You can make extra contributions either before (concessional) or after-tax (non-concessional) into your super fund and withdraw up to the cap of $15,000 in any one year and up to $50,000 across all years. This is an individual cap, so couples can save up to $100,000 total.
We would very strongly recommend speaking to an accountant before you decide to engage in the First Home Super Saver Scheme. It’s a pretty confusing area and there are quite a lot of rules and regulations that you’ll need to adhere to.
Get in touch if you’d like to chat to an accountant, we have some experts in our entourage who will help you wrap your head around what you can and can’t do through the FHSSS.
You can download the fact sheet here.
Support from parents/guardians
Many first home buyers are able to purchase with support from their parents or guardians, in conjunction with some of the incentives mentioned above. Check out our article here on how parents can assist in buying your first home.
To discuss getting into your first home, get in touch with the Entourage team or phone us on 02 6678 1751.