Property Investors and Home Buyers have welcomed the move by the NSW State Government to remove the payment of Stamp Duty for those that purchase off the plan before construction begins and discount it when construction has started. This is applicable for all purchasers under $600,000.

Once again it is the lower price market that gets the assistance which will continue to help push prices higher for everyone. It is a good move by the NSW Government and one that many should take advantage of. The intention is for developers to start bringing to market affordable property priced under $600,000. Although developers and now the Government have every intention of helping property buyers, the developments are still being delayed by Councils who are not approving plans and banks who are still reluctant to finance unless the developer is financially very strong with a large number of pre-sales for the particular project. Now with the removal of the NSW Stamp Duty for some properties, hopefully the achievement of these pre-sales will be a little bit easier.

Some have said that although this move by the NSW Government to abolish Stamp Duty on new homes and apartments is a move in the right direction, it is still not enough. These days $600,000 doesn’t buy you much depending on the suburb and location you are looking at and in many cases developers just can’t deliver a quality product due to their land prices being so high.

What about those that are shopping in the $600,000 – $750,000 price bracket. There really should be a phasing out up to $750,000 which is where the upper limit is for first home buyer concessions. If you spend $601,000 then you are required to pay full stamp duty, but at $599,999 then you save yourself circa $22,000. There really does need to be a scaled approach to this effort by the Government.

While we are all waiting for the Government and the OSR to release official information we will just have to sit back and wait to see what the finer details are.

This is a very positive move for NSW and should help stimulate much needed residential development across the state and hopefully with a focus on some of the growth corridors where heavy infrastructure spending is required to deliver community needs including new transport, hospitals and other amenities.

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Sydney Home Buyer Show (Pre-Show Guide)

Don’t miss the largest event in Australia dedicated to educating home buyers & property investors of all levels.

Buying a home or investment property is one of most important financial transactions you will ever make.
So if you’re looking to buy property but keen to make the right decisions and avoid costly mistakes – then you simply can’t afford to miss the Sydney Home Buyer Show being held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre from Saturday 31 October to Sunday 1 November.

It’s the smart way to buy property and the largest event in Australia dedicated to helping people finance, find and buy their next home or investment property. We’ll help you get on the right path to the right property with over 30 free seminars and workshops on offer each day – delivered only by impartial experts from government and industry associations that you can trust including free seminars from John Symond, Aussie; Mark Bouris, Channel 9’s The Apprentice and Effie Zahos, Channel 9’s Money for Jam.

A major exhibition will showcase over 120 leading companies with everything the home buyer or investor needs under one roof, including new and established homes, apartments, townhouses, units, builders, house & land packages, holiday houses, land estates, home loans, real estate agents, property investment advice companies and much more.

Heaps of New Products and Show Specials will also be on offer plus there’s dedicated Zones for Apartment Buyers and Property Investors.

For further information including the comprehensive educational seminar program and full exhibitor list visit: http://www.homebuyershow.com.au/home/sydney

As part of a special promotion we are pleased to offer all our Blog Readers, family and friends FREE TICKETS to the Sydney Home Buyer Show which are normally $15. Simply visit the website www.homebuyershow.com.au and quote the special promotional code FINDIP when purchasing your tickets.

Visitors to can also attend the Trading & Investing Seminars & Expo next for free – tickets are normally $15. For full details visit the Trading & Investing Seminars & Expo website: www.tradingandinvestingexpo.com.au

Event details:
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre
Saturday 31 October to Sunday 1 November 2009
Opening Hours: 10am to 5pm daily

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Kawana Waters – Sunshine Coast

Many of you have probably never heard of Kawana Waters located on the Sunshine Coast between Mooloolaba and Caloundra. Kawana Waters is a beachside town just under 1 hours drive north from Brisbane.

Some quick facts on the Sunshine Coast include:

• Population of Sunshine Coast (2008): 303,000 approx
• Population of Sunshine Coast (2031): 501,179 Estimated Forecast
• Annual Regional Population Growth rate (2008): 2.9%
• Proposed Government Infrastructure spend in region: $18.2billion (2008 – 2026)
• Median Age Group: 41 years
• Average Household Size: 2.5 people per dwelling

Lake Kawana is the centre of the major development in the Kawana Waters region. This lake is the centre piece of the Kawana Town Centre Development. It stretches over 2.5km in length and has become a popular destination for water based sports such as rowing, kayaking and canoeing. Surrounding the lake are over 8km of walking paths and bike tracks.

Major infrastructure planned for the Kawana Waters Region includes:

• Stockland’s Kawana Waters Town Centre – mixed use retail and commercial precinct
• Sunshine Coast University Hospital ($1.21billion – State Government Project)
• CAMCOS Rail Link to Brisbane rail network including transit station within the Kawana Town Centre – State Government Project
• Multi Model Transport Corridor (MMTC) project ($1 billion road infrastructure linking existing road networks North to Sunshine Motorway and South to Bruce Hwy – State Government Project
• Coast Connect Project – Rapid Bus network linking Kawana Town Centre to broader Sunshine Coast community – State and Local Government Project

Click to see new projects on the Sunshine Coast, QLD.

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The NSW Government has surprised the market with a NSW stamp duty cut for  property investors and home buyers. The NSW Government has announced in the budget today that home buyers (not first home buyers) and investors will be entitled to a 50% discount on NSW Stamp Duty costs for new property purchasers under $600,000. It is interesting to note that about 80% of NSW properties for sale are sold under $600,000. First Home Buyers don’t pay stamp duty for homes under $500,000 and there is a sliding scale up to $600,000 where the full rate is applicable.

The discount provided by the Reese Government is only available to 31st December 2009 and only for brand new homes including new apartments, new townhouses & new house and land packages. It is also available for those properties that have never been occupied or sold previously as well as for off the plan NSW purchases – the short time frame hoping to encourage home buyers and investors to move into the property market before the end of the year.

According to the NSW Treasury, 90% of First Home Buyers have been buying established property, so the additional boost is to help developers with the new stock that is currently being marketed.

First home buyers will now also receive an extra $3,000 for the purchase of newly-constructed homes until June 30 in 2010. First Home Buyers can now receive a total of $41,990 in grants and stamp duty cuts!

The downside I see to this stimulus is that it ends at the same time as the boosted First Home Buyers Grant, at the end of December 2009. What this means is that the market may become over stimulated during the next 6 months and take a hard fall when both stimulus packages are removed at the same time. It would have been smarter for the NSW Government to have an overlap of at least 6 months allowing the stimulus to carry us through to mid next year and encouraging further development which is so desperately needed in NSW.

It will be interesting to see how the cut to the NSW stamp duty plays out in the media and the markets over the next 6 months.

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The Sydney property market has been through a tough time over the last few years with slow or no growth. There has even been some negative growth over a couple of periods. On the other hand other states had previously been pushing up the charts with some amazing property returns. All that has changed over the last 12 months as most of the property markets around Australia have fallen. Now with a rebalancing act occuring, the light looks bright for property accross Australia with the suggestion that the best placed property market is Sydney. Residex is predicting that Sydney units will increase by 5.95%pa over the next 3 years and Sydney houses to increase by 8.59% pa over the next 3 years.  The prediction looking further ahead suggests that  median Sydney House price in 2012 would be more than $700,000., up from the current median Sydney house price of $556,500.  

Residex go on further to predict that post 31 December when the First Home buyers grant expires, rents are likley to rise even higher. This is great for property investors that make the move now into property, however i still feel that this is not the desired outcome. Greater development needs to occur so that property continues to provide a stable predictable return for property investors and not the get rich quick style investments which property investing is certainly not!

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Developers in Victoria are concerned that demand for new property up until 30 June 09 may drop as more first home buyers wait for the new grants to be available from 1st July 2009. Currently new home buyers will recieve a total of $26,000, however from the 1st July this is going to increase to $32,000. The 6 week gap of subdued activity may force developers to offer their own “subsidies”, which is exactly what Devine Property has done. They weren’t going to wait around for the next 6 weeks for the Governments announcmenet to take effect. Instead they have taken the innititave to offer the incentives immiedietly out of their own profits ensuring that there wouldnt be a drop off in demand for their developments.

Luke Hartman, Devine’s Victorian General Manager has said that the current times have been the best they have seen for first home buyers. Devine is targeting buyers aged 25 to 39 who had double incomes. With a 50% increase in sales since October 08 when the boosted grant was immplemented, it looks like Devine are oncourse for another successful year.

In April 09, Victoria saw almost 4,500 first home buyers come into the market with about 75% of those looking to buy established property. Victoria has the most generous boosted grant scheme compared to the other states.

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Colliers International has released their Brisbane March quarter apartment report identifying 6 major projects that have been put on hold due to the current economic climate. Major developments which they identified included the $1billion Vision Tower, $700million Trilogy Tower, $500million Empire Square residential and hotel development, $1.1billion Eagle street Pier Project by Stockland on the Brisbane River.

One developer surging ahaead with their development is Devine Properties who is developing the $1billion French Quarter. They hope to achieve sales success similiar to their past project Hamilton Harbour.

Other developers looking to move forward to their developments include Meriton and North Build Construction.

Other projects that have not progressed include Hogan Place, Silverpoint Towers and Q-Centre tower.

This report focuses on Queensland where many of Australia’s high profile development were to take place. The same reults of shelved developments around Australia can been seen in all the major cities.

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It has come to our attention that the new apartment development located at Sydney Olympic Park will be made available to the public very shortly. This landmark project is one of the most exciting and unique projects in Sydney and is the first in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct.

Sydney Olympic Park is going to become a master planned community that will fully be completed by 2030. Since 2000, more than $1.1billion of new developments has been secured at Olympic Park, while over the past 2 years over $276 million worth of projects has been approved. There are 6,000 new dwellings being planned to accomodate 14,000 residents along with a new private hospital which is due for comepltion in 2010. A 90-place child care facility has also been approved for development, along with a 100,000sqm education campus which has been planned for the park. There are also a number of corporations that are relcoating to the Sydney Olympic Park bringing 28,500 jobs.

We will release more details about this amazing landmark development of new apartments in Sydney Olympic Park once we have approval from the developer.

You will be able to find these new apartments on the Find Investment Property portal.

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