First home buyers: surge in off plan apartment inquiries – realestate … – realestate.com.au

Taylor Troeth, Property Journalist
Updated 12 Sep 2023, 3:38pm
First published 12 Sep 2023, 3:31pm
First home buyers are taking the plunge as off the plan apartments have seen a huge rush of inquiries after only six weeks of new stamp duty slashes in place.
Now paying no stamp duty on properties between $650,000-$800,000, and receiving a large discount on properties up to $950,000 developers are seeing an increase in first home buyers dipping their toes into the off the plan ‘pool’.
This change to the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme has caused a huge surge of interest for properties within that mark, with first buyers taking the leap with off the plan apartments. Increasing from the previous cap between $650,000-$800,00, Australians purchasing their first home can now save up to $30,000 in stamp duty fees.
Rumbalara off the plan homes saw a surge in interest once the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme changed increased their limit.
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Rumbalara Residences located in NSW’s Central Coast is currently being developed by Alceon, with two-bedroom luxury apartments for sale in that first homeowners range of $780,000-950,000.
Since the changes came into place on July 1, Rumbalara’s Development Director Todd Campling said they were “bombarded” with inquiries from first homeowners.
“For the first 12 months of the project we had nothing coming through from first home buyers. We hadn’t seen them in the active market for quite some time,” he said.
Rumbalara off the plan inquiries are rushing through for apartments between $850,000-$950,000 as there is a significant saving on stamp duty in that range.
Artist impressions of the plans for the Rumbalara Residences apartments.
After only six weeks of the new scheme in place, Mr Campling said they have sold one property, received two deposits and are working with another three or four first home buyers.
Mr Campling said he believes stamp duty can be a huge barrier for people wanting to purchase a property.
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“Regardless of if you’re a first home buyer or a down-sizer, stamp duty can make a huge difference on how much you can put into your deposit,” he said.
Australians purchasing their first home can now save up to $30,000 in stamp duty fees.
Mr Campling said he was seeing the inquiries come through for the $850,000-$950,000 as there was still a significant saving on stamp duty in that range.
Mr Campling said the changes to the scheme and stamp duty reductions makes a huge difference.
“It gives people a reason to get out there and start looking. For the previous amount, you couldn’t really get much,” he said.
Being located on The Central Coast, Mr Campling said you can make your money go a bit further than if purchasing in Sydney.
Artist impressions of the kitchen of one of the Rumbalara off the plan residences.
The Rumbalara residences went from having no inquiries for first home buyers for the first 12 months to eight in the first few weeks of the stamp duty changes.
“Being on The Central Coast you can generally afford a nice two bedroom apartment with water views, compared to a second-tier apartment you may get for the same price in Sydney,” he said.
The Rumbalara Reserve residences, located in NSW’s Central Coast are expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
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