Inquiries surge following federal government’s HomeBuilder announcement: REA

Inquiries for land have more than tripled since April as buyers look to take advantage of the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant.

Tasmanian and Western Australian land developers have seen the biggest spikes in enquiry off the back of the federal government’s HomeBuilder scheme.

Inquiries for land from would-be homeowners have more than tripled since April following the announcement of the federal government’s HomeBuilder scheme, according to data from realestate.com.au.

Developers were flooded with enquiries last month on the back of the June 4 announcement of $25,000 grants for new builds, with the real estate portal reporting the number of people asking about land offers up by 62.8 per cent.

The record high for land enquiry is more than triple the levels seen in April, up 222 per cent.

REA director of economic research Cameron Kusher said despite early criticism of the HomeBuilder package it had obviously proved very attractive to the active first-home buyers segment of the market and was likely to inspire many to bring forward their plans to buy.

“Surprisingly, there was pick-up in May before the scheme was announced, which suggests people were comfortable with the idea of building a home and feeling confident,” Mr Kusher said.

“The cherry on the top was HomeBuilder, and since then we have just seen enquiry levels go from strength to strength.”

While enquiries increased, page views fell by 5.5 per cent.

The rise in enquiry was particularly prominent outside of Australia’s two largest property markets, where housing is more affordable.

Tasmanian and West Australian projects drew the most attention last month, up 203.5 per cent and 179 per cent respectively.

Enquiries almost doubled in Queensland (up 97.2 per cent) and South Australia (up 98.8 per cent).

Income caps of $125,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples, combined with purchasing price caps, slowed enquiries in NSW and Victoria. The availability of land in outer Melbourne saw statewide enquiry up 56.8 per cent, while the tighter Sydney markets grew a modest 33.8 per cent.

It took almost a month for all the states and territories to sign on to the scheme, with Queensland holding out until last Thursday. Grants are yet to be distributed as the schemes are implemented and building contracts are finalised.

Mr Kusher expects historically low interest rates will ensure enquiry levels continue to rise, particularly from the first-home buyer segment of the market. Hopeful homeowners will also have the added benefit of being able to overlap several different stimulus measures, including state and territory-based grants and stamp duty concessions and the federal government’s first-home buyer lending guarantee.

Apartment king Harry Triguboff led early criticism of the scheme, saying the three-month contract to construction time frame expectation would be difficult for unit developers to meet.

This was reflected in the enquiry levels for apartment and new retirement living options, with both reporting more subdued rises of 79.1 per cent and 107.1 per cent respectively.