The federal budget was announced tonight with an announcement that First Home buyers will have another 6 months of boosted grants. 3 months at the full rate and 3 months at a halved rate. The boosted grant will end 31 December 2009.

I really don’t understand where the Rudd Government is going with this… the extension should have been alot longer and been more focused on new property. Treasurer Wayne Swan said that the initial boost was a success but wasn’t prepared to continue the boost to help support the Australian economy for more than 3 months at the full rate.

I understand the boosted grant can’t continue forever, however the major impact to the overall economy is far greater than the cost to the government in the short term.

So far, according to Wayne Swan, the first home owners boost had already helped 59,000 people achieve the great Australian dream. One would now assume that some panic would be removed from the first home buyers market while first home buyers have a little more time up their sleeve to find the right property for them.