The New South Wales (NSW) government will introduce legislation to scrap the First Home Buyer Choice assistance and establish a new stamp duty exemption scheme. The former Coalition government launched the temporary First Home Buyer Choice program in January to boost homeownership among the state residents. At the time, the coalition touted the program as…

Dear Dave, I’m 20 years old, and I’m planning to buy a home in the next year. Besides having a 20 percent down payment, what other tips do you have for a first-time home buyer? Also, is there anything I need to guard against when it comes to buying a house? —Jacob Dear Jacob, I’m…

Commentary Over the past decade in Australia, we have had a series of governments delivering disappointing policies. Unfortunately, I expect this disappointment will continue with the new Labor government. One case in point: their housing policy was announced during the most recent election campaign. The Labor Party’s shared equity scheme is yet another poor federal…

The Australian federal government announced that tens of thousands more citizens would be able to buy a house under its expanded Home Guarantee Scheme. The scheme’s property price caps have been increased across all states and territories and the number of available guarantees has also been increased to a total of 50,000 places a year…

First home buyers and low-income borrowers in Australia will have a more difficult time breaking into the housing market after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) decreased their potential borrowing capacity. The move by APRA to increase the minimum interest rate buffer on home loans from 2.5 percent to 3 percent from the end of October was designed…