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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
There has been a dramatic increase in the number of first home buyers entering the property market, but the numbers may be skewed by changes to first home owner concessions in NSW.
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Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found the number of first home buyers increased by 18 per cent in November compared to October – adding more than $2.86 billion in mortgage activity – the largest volume since December 2009.
RateCity's chief executive officer Damian Smith said these figures are a good sign for 2012.
"November delivered the largest number of borrowers entering the property market in almost two years and it was the fourth consecutive month with rising numbers of dwellings financed by first home buyers. It's significant because it pre-dates the second interest rate cut in December," he said.
However, Mr Smith cautioned against reading too much into the data, as the national figures were largely bolstered by the number of buyers entering the property market in New South Wales.
"In NSW alone, close to 4000 first home buyers financed properties in November – a significant jump of 34 per cent up from the previous month. By comparison, the number of first home buyers in Victoria and Queensland rose by just 5 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, in the same period.
"Many home purchases in NSW were effectively 'brought forward' to meet the stamp duty concession deadline before rulings changed on January 1, 2012.
"We expect to see a similar spike in first home buyer activity in Queensland in coming months after a surge in applications were filed for a $10,000 building boost grant, which was due to close at the end of this month. To meet demand, the deadline has been pushed out to the end of April," he said.
