First-home buyers bounce back
FIRST-home buyers are getting back in the market in Queensland, making up 20% of all owner-occupier dwellings financed in April this year.
And it is a sign the Real Estate Institute of Queensland has welcomed, with first time buyer activity up some 35% since the April 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
REIQ chairwoman Pamela Bennett said the removal of the $7000 first home owners' boost and higher interest rates had slowed the first home buyers market in 2010-11.
"It has taken a few years for underlying demand from first-timers to strengthen once again and that is what we are now starting to see in the market," she said.
"Interest rates are now lower and they can also access the $7000 First Home Owners Grant (FHOG) and stamp duty concessions of up to $15,000, which are all attractive propositions for first-home buyers.
"Our regional centres also offer plenty of affordable property with Cairns, Rockhampton, the Fraser Coast, Bundaberg and Toowoomba all having median house prices of $350,000 or less."
