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Western Australia’s government has been warned that first home buyers will suffer if the state's stamp duty exemption is scrapped.
The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia urged the government not to give in to pressure by scrapping exemption for first home buyers in the May Budget.
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President David Airey said the exemption had been “extraordinary successful” in nurturing the market since it was introduced in 2007.
“Cost of living and housing affordability is much tougher in WA than it is in other states, but removing the stamp duty impost from first home buyers saves most of them around $14,000 and helps them get into a home of their own,” he said.
“In combination with low interest rates, first home buyers have flourished in WA, but the signs are that this is now trending downwards and it would be devastating if they soon get hit with stamp duty.”
Scott Thornton, director of Loan Monster, said he opposed the scrapping of the exemption because conditions had been getting harder for first home buyers.
“It would definitely put a strain on first home buyers. It’s almost unaffordable at the moment for first home buyers,” he told The Adviser.
Mr Thornton said competition for Perth homes priced between $400,000 and $750,000 had intensified during the past six months.
“So if you take out the exemption, first home buyers are going to be really up against it,” he said.
