New government assistance to attract first-home buyers to Canberra's nearby NSW regions

The federal government has announced 10,000 new homes will become available under the Home Guarantee Scheme, which may draw more buyers to the NSW regions across Canberra’s borders, agents say.

From October 1, the new Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee (RFHBG) will help first-home buyers living regionally to buy modest homes with small deposits in a bid to help more rural first-home buyers enter the market sooner. 

Eligible first-home buyers will need to have lived within the regional area they wish to purchase in for at least 12 months before their home loan agreement starts. For young couples hoping to buy a home together, one partner will need to have lived in the area for 12 months.

The new RFHBG will increase the number of annual places within the Home Guarantee Scheme to 50,000. 

National Housing, Finance and Investment Corporation chief executive Nathan Dal Bon said he was in favour of the announcement as a way to ease the rising cost of living that all first-home buyers are facing.

“NHFIC welcomes this targeted support for first-home buyers living in regional Australia,” he said. “Making it easier for more Australians to access housing is our fundamental purpose, and programs like this are even more important as aspiring home owners cope with increasing cost-of-living pressures.”

Regions across Canberra borders eligible for the guarantee include Queanbeyan, Yass and Goulburn, as well as the Jervis Bay Territory. 

Andrew Curlewis of Yass Valley Property said the number of first home buyers in the Yass area was less than it used to be, but the appeal was still there. 

“It is a popular place for first home buyers because it is a fair bit cheaper than Canberra, but I think the interest rate rises have hit that end of the market harder than the top end,” he said. 

“Obviously there are still people out there looking for housing, and that’s not going to change any time soon; it’s more about affordability pressures. 

“[As] the assistance addresses that area of affordability, then certainly it will have an impact on the market.”

The price cap for homes that are eligible for the scheme in regional centres of NSW is $900,000, while the cap in other NSW locations is $750,000, which can get you above-average first homes, Curlewis said. 

“Homes for $750,000 in Yass are not entry-level by any means. You could get yourself a great home for that sort of money in the area,” he said. 

According to the latest Domain House Price Report, the median house price in Yass over the June quarter was $817,500, which was a 17.6 per cent increase year-on-year. 

Closer to home, Queanbeyan’s median house price over the June quarter was $940,000, which was a 23.7 per cent increase year-on-year. Goulburn’s median house price reached $640,000, a 26.7 per cent increase year-on-year. 

Curlewis said the guarantee would encourage consideration of a type of living that is different to anything in Canberra.

“Country towns have great communities that come with them … it’s a very different experience to a town centre like Gungahlin that has been built in the last 10 years,” he said.

“Unless you’ve got millions of dollars in Canberra, you’re not going to be able to buy a property at the moment with that sort of history … we are selling homes that were built as long ago as 1886.” 

The Real Estate Institute of Australia president Hayden Groves also welcomed the federal government’s announcement.

“The scheme comes in as regional towns struggle with housing supply and affordability, and will ease some of the pain many first home buyers have been experiencing,” he said. 

“However, programs like these must be implemented in tandem with the National Plan for Housing, which must focus on building more houses in Australia’s regions, and stamp duty reforms that would help address affordability.” 

More information about the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee will be available from the commencement date on October 1 at the National Housing, Finance and Investment Corporation’s website.