Opinions are mixed on whether a slashing of stamp duty for first home buyers will see a significant impact on the Wagga housing market.
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The NSW government announced yesterday a host of measures aimed at boosting the construction industry, while enticing first home buyers into the market.
The stamp duty threshold on newly built homes will increase from $650,000 to $800,000, meaning an eligible buyer who previously would have spent up to $31,000 on stamp duty would have the fee waived for the next 12 months.
The threshold on vacant land has been increased from $350,000 to $400,000, with the changes set to be introduced on August 1.
RE/Max Elite director Dave Skow, who has been advocating for stamp duty to be scrapped, said the scheme was unlikely to have a strong impact in Wagga.
"I think the way the scheme is at the moment is good and is doing a good job of assisting those first home buyers into a new build," he said.
"Our new builds are very rarely up to the cap limit anyway, particularly for first home buyers, I don't think the change is going to make much difference."
Mr Skow said the scheme would likely have a greater impact on places where first home buyers were looking at more expensive new homes.
"It's definitely something that would be of benefit to the old N-S-W - Newcastle, Sydney, Wollongong - as opposed to N-S-W being NSW as a whole, just because our property prices don't get up to that level," he said.
However, he said it was likely to fulfil its main intention of bolstering the state's construction industry.
Wagga builder Wayne Carter said the local construction industry had been sheltered from the worst of the coronavirus impact seen in the capital cities.
"We're in a bubble down here, I think a lot of regional areas are in the same boat," he said.
Mr Carter said a virus-free city like Wagga was in "a good spot," reaping the layered benefits of stamp duty relief, first home buyer grants and HomeBuilder without suffering many of the negative effects.
"We are definitely getting the benefit, you really could say we don't need that as much as a metropolitan area does ... but here, it's just business as usual," he said.
Mr Carter said in a city that was pushing to dramatically increase its population, the new scheme was just another piece of good news which would ultimately contribute to a strong demand for housing in Wagga.
"It'll affect the confidence, because people will know that when you've got things happening, it multiplies by itself," he said.
"Confidence breeds confidence."
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