First Home Owners Grant increases to $15,000 for 2017

03 January 2017

First home buyers purchasing newly built properties will now have access to a $15,000 First Home Owners Grant until 31 December 2017.

Announced last week, Premier Colin Barnett said the decision to increase the grant from $10,000 to $15,000 would help first home buyers enter the property market, stimulate construction in WA’s housing market and provide around 2,000 new jobs.

“We are conscious about housing affordability and this boost will provide more families an opportunity to get into the housing market,” Mr Barnett said.

Speaking to ABC Online last week, REIWA President Hayden Groves said he was worried the increase to the grant would be a detriment to the property market and would like to see the same incentive given to first home buyers purchasing existing homes.

“As an Institute we’re a little concerned that the gap between established property and new property for first home buyers is getting larger,” Mr Groves said.

As with the existing grant, the boost payment applies to new homes up to the value of $750,000 (or up to one million dollars if the home is located north of the 26th parallel).