First home buyers are keeping brokers and lenders very busy at the moment as they take advantage of the many different grants and schemes available to them. Home and land packages seem to be particularly attractive with buyers looking at growth corridors where they can see an equity increase in their property going forward.
The latest vacant land data demonstrates that even with the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the country, the South East Queensland land market displayed a 4.26% increase in lot sales from the corresponding financial year.
The best performing regions were:
- The Sunshine Coast – + 25.29%
- Brisbane – + 16.52%
- Logan – + 15.62%
- Moreton Bay – + 14.10%.
While median land values best performing regions included:
- Toowoomba – + 11.14% to $194,500
- Redland Bay – + 4.11% to $329,000
- Moreton Bay – + 2.71% to $261,900
- Ipswich – + 1.50% to $203,000.
The table below shows the lot sales for South East Queensland over the last 10 years.
Thanks mainly to stimulus from the Federal Government, the second half of 2020 saw the largest increase in land sales. The SEQ land market is now well positioned to see improvement continue in 2021. The Homebuilder grant has put immense pressure on supply and driven strong competition and premium sales results, particularly on sites with scale, a clear planning pathway and access to essential infrastructure.
For your information, in November the government extended the HomeBuilder program to 31 March 2021. However, the below changes were made:
- The grant is now $15,000 for building contracts (new builds and substantial renovations) signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021, inclusive.
- An extended deadline for all applications to be submitted, including those applying for the $25,000 grant and the new $15,000 grant. Applications can now be submitted up until 14 April 2021. This applies to all eligible contracts signed on or after 4 June 2020.
- An extension to the construction commencement timeframe from three months to six months for all HomeBuilder applicants. This applies to all eligible contracts signed on or after 4 June 2020.
- An increase to the property price cap for new build contracts in New South Wales and Victoria to $950,000 and $850,000, respectively, where the contract is signed between 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021.The existing new build property price cap of $750,000 will continue to apply in all other States and Territories.
- A change in licensing requirements and registration for builders, as below:
- Where an eligible contract is signed on or after 29 November 2020, the builder must have a valid licence or registration before 29 November 2020.
- Where an eligible contract is signed before 29 November 2020, the builder must have a valid licence or registration before 4 June 2020.
If you would like to discuss the government stimulus available to you or have a chat about how we can help with your finances, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our home loan experts, we’d love to help.
Special thanks to Ray White for sharing their market summary report 2019-20 with us.