The first home buyers package
John Key has announced a package of changes to help first home buyers get their first house. The key changes are:
- Price caps for the KiwiSaver First Home Deposit Subsidy increases from $400,000 to $485,000 in Auckland, $300,000 to $400,000 in Christchurch, and some other increases
- The income cap for a couple to access the KFHDS increases from $100,000 to $120,000
The Government expects the number of first home buyers receiving the subsidy will go from 4,700 to 10,000 a year and the number of Welcome Home Loans from 845 to 2,500 – so a doubling and trebling respectively.
The total cost of the package is $64 million over four years.
There is a table showing for each area what the price cap is as a percentage of the mean sale price. Major areas are:
- Auckland 76%
- Wellington 76%
- Christchurch 94%
- Tauranga 86%
- Hamilton 92%
They seem pretty fair to me. First time buyers generally will not be buying a house at the mean or average. That’s what you move into years later when you sell your first home and upgrade.