Australian Financial Review
House prices are rising faster at the bottom end of the market than the top, as competition among first home buyers intensifies following the introduction of the federal government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme.
Dwellings with values below the government’s expanded first home guarantee scheme rose by 1.2 per cent nationally, while property prices above the scheme’s caps increased by 1 per cent in October, according to an analysis by Cotality.
The data provider undertook the analysis to assess the initial impacts of the first home buyer scheme which came into effect on October 1. The government has raised the price caps for eligible property purchases and scrapped income limits to allow an unlimited number of first home buyers to enter the market with a 5 per cent deposit without having to pay lenders’ mortgage insurance.