Masses take up loan program

ROBERT and Chantell McShane are among thousands of Australians using the federal government’s new first homebuyer scheme hoping to get into the property market with just a 5 per cent deposit.

New figures show 129 Tasmanians are among almost 6500 Aussies to date who have applied for the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, which guarantees up to 15 per cent of the value of the property.

Hundreds of people aged in their 40s - and even some in their 50s - are using the scheme to enter the market for the first time, as prices soar across Australia.

But even after being granted conditional approval for the program, the McShanes are finding it hard to buy a house in Hobart’s “cut throat” market. Each of the 10 or so open homes they’ve attended so far has had about five couples looking.

“It’s not as crazy as the rental market. There were queues out the doors of some properties when we were looking for a rental,” Mr McShane said.

“One of the reasons we moved back to Tassie was because we wanted to buy, and the Sydney market was even worse.”

The 34-year-old said the first home loan deposit scheme would help them afford a property without having to fork out for lenders mortgage insurance.

Up to 10,000 homebuyers will be able to apply for the scheme per financial year.

More than 3500 applications are still available this year, with the number resetting to 10,000 in July.

It can be used to buy homes up to $400,000 in major cities and regional centres, and up to $300,000 across the rest of Tasmania.

Housing Minister Michael Sukkar said it would cut years off the time many Australians would need to save a deposit.

But Mr McShane said an unfortunate consequence of more help for first homebuyers was that when an incentive was made available, property prices increase with it.

“If we’re unsuccessful with offers, we can just maintain the status quo, keep renting, keep saving and hopefully something comes our way,” he said.