In his opening comments announcing the budget Josh Frydenberg said “Over the last 12 months, the Australian economy has outperformed all major advanced economies around the world,” he noted. “But the job is not done. There is still more to do. Australia is still in the midst of a global pandemic.”
With housing now worth four times the size of Australia’s GDP — it’s no surprise that there are several measures in place to ensure the continued security of Australian property.
There were three key schemes included that will benefit the real estate sector and underpin the government’s efforts to support home ownership:
The establishment of a Family Home Guarantee
To allow single-parent families to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 2 per cent.
Expansion of the New Home Guarantee
An additional 10,000 places in this 5 per cent deposit scheme will be created, to bolster the success from the program’s first year.
An increase to the First Home Super Save Scheme
This will see the maximum amount of voluntary contributions which can be released under the scheme lifted to $50,000 from the previous $30,000 cap.
The budget also holds a number of other measures created to support Australian property including:
Downsizers
Mr Frydenberg has revealed that Australians over the age of 60 will be able to contribute up to $300,000 into their superannuation if they downsize their home. It’s expected this will free up more housing stock for younger families.
This scheme was previously only available to Australians over the age of 65.
Infrastructure spend
The Treasurer confirmed the government is spending $10 billion over 10 years on a number of infrastructure projects.
Building Better Regions
Stating that “regional Australia will never be taken for granted”, Mr Frydenberg revealed $250 million will be allocated to regional community infrastructure projects under the Building Better Regions fund.
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