Deadlines – whether its that final assignment for university, or this column (appreciate the patience as always, team!), deadlines can creep up on us – and the one for Homebuilder on the 31st of December has been fast approaching.
Though I might sound like a broken record at this point, it bears repeating – I have never in my career seen a government stimulus program have such a pronounced (positive) impact on the real estate market. Demand for land to be able to build and be eligible for Homebuilder has far outstripped supply, to the point that I am getting calls and texts DAILY from buyers looking for land and desperate to sign a contract. The last time I had a block fall over and come available again, a new contract was signed within 2 hours, for an extra $5,000 over the previous price.
This was getting even more urgent as that deadline for a build contract loomed, meaning the buyer that missed out today, was going to miss out on an extra $30,000 to go with their new home. As of last weekend however, that pressure has come off (a little) with a number of points relating to the Grant now extended, opening up options for buyers.
The headline of course, is that eligibility has now been extended to 31st March 2021 to have a building contract signed, albeit at a lesser amount of $15,000 for those signing from the 1st January. Further good news for anyone panicking about having their builder commence within the 3 month required period, this has now been drawn out to 6 months from signing, with this now being retrospective to include ALL Homebuilder applicants since the 4th June.
Until the QLD government makes an announcement about their own stimulus, we won’t know whether the extra $5K will still be included, but $30,000 still makes for an awfully nice leg-up into the market for a first home buyer.
So what do you do with this information? Buyers - if you had written off your chances of finding a block, you have a slight reprieve – but you still need to get your ducks in a row. Tackle your finance, line up a builder and be ready to move QUICK as new supply comes on. For sellers, it’s a bit easier – just pick the right agent and leave it to them!