Key reveals new first home buyers' package
More generous subsidies, but also a new 10% deposit requirement.
Prime Minister John Key has announced a package of changes to help first home buyers get their first house.
The key changes are:
- Price caps for the KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy increases from $400,000 to $485,000 in Auckland, $300,000 to $400,000 in Christchurch, and some other increases
- The income cap for a couple to access the KFHDS increases from $100,000 to $120,000
The Government expects the number of first home buyers receiving the subsidy will go from 4,700 to 10,000 a year and the number of Welcome Home Loans from 845 to 2,500 – so a doubling and trebling respectively.
The total cost of the package is $64 million over four years.
[There is also a new 10% deposit requirement to qualify for a KiwiSaver or to get a Welcome Home Loan. The 10% includes funds people can access through KiwiSaver. Previously there has been a no-deposit option, if a house is valued at $200,000 or less - Editor.]
There is a table showing for each area what the price cap is as a percentage of the mean sale price. Major areas are:
- Auckland 76%
- Wellington 76%
- Christchurch 94%
- Tauranga 86%
- Hamilton 92%
They seem pretty fair to me. First time buyers generally will not be buying a house at the mean or average. That’s what you move into years later when you sell your first home and upgrade.
Political commentator David Farrar posts at Kiwiblog.
David Farrar
Sun, 11 Aug 2013
Sun, 11 Aug 2013
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Key reveals new first home buyers' package
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