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The Real Estate Institute of Queensland has renewed its call for the reinstatement of the first home owner grant for existing housing.
REIQ chief executive Antonia Mercorella said strengthening first home owner incentives should be near the top of the political agenda for the new Labor government.
“This is an important issue in the community – with so many Queenslanders wanting to see first home owner grants made available to buyers of all property types,” Ms Mercorella said.
“We believe it was a short-sighted move to restrict first home owner grants to new home purchases, but there’s a real opportunity now to put that right.”
Ms Mercorella said the REIQ has already had positive discussions with Treasurer Curtis Pitt on the issue and will continue to push the case.
“Reinstating the full spectrum of first home owner incentives would unlock millions of dollars in investment, delivering an important boost to the Queensland economy,” she said.
“It would also greatly assist Queensland’s residential housing recovery and help thousands of extra Queenslanders to realise their dream of home ownership.”
Ms Mercorella said there was no sound basis for the preferential treatment that exists for purchasers of newly built properties.
“There needs to be a level playing field for all first home buyers in Queensland,” she said.
“When grants for existing housing were abolished in 2012 first home owner [purchase] rates experienced a marked decline, but this could be reversed with the reinstatement of a more even-handed scheme.”
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