There was good news for home buyers late last week when it was announced that cash payments of up to $8500 for people who are building will be extended until the end of the year in a bid to stimulate the construction industry. Premier Jay Weatherill has said that he will commit $38.7 million to the State Budget in order to keep the Housing Construction Grant running. This comes as a great relief, as it was announced last year that the grant would end on June 30.
Since the grant was introduced seven months ago, more than 1100 people have taken advantage of it. Whilst the full amount is available to people who are buying or building a new home with a full market value of up to $400,000, the amount gradually decreases until it is cut off for homes that are valued at $450,000 or higher. This extension means that buyers who enter into contracts up to December 31 will be able to receive the grant.
Robert Harding, the regional director of the Housing Industry Association (HIA), has voiced their support of the extension. “The HIA has been calling for the extension of these grants for three months…It’s no secret that the residential housing industry is experiencing one of the worst downturns on record.” It is believed that these grants will provide home buyers with some much needed relief, allowing many people to afford this for the first time.
Figures compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown a small but steady improvement in the number of approvals for new home constructions since June last year. Even so, in the past four years we have seen a considerable amount of approvals declined – there were 12,873 in the 2009/2010 financial year, 11,852 in 2010/2011 and 8,634 in 2011/2012. So far in this financial year, the ABS has recorded 7,021 approvals.
