Exclusive Urban IQ: UDIA (VIC) Educates Industry By Unpacking Homes For Victorians

The Urban Development Institute of Australia (Victoria) have to helped shed light on the main points of the state government's 'Homes for Victorians' strategy in their Urban IQ latest video under the UDIA Urban IQ initiative.

On behalf of Urban IQ, which was created to help fill the gap in knowledge available to Victoria’s urban development industry, UDIA (Vic) CEO Danni Addison said Victoria has seen an unprecedented rise in both cost and demand for homes in the past few years.

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Urban IQ: Coverage Of Victoria’s Housing Market]"First home buyers (FHBs) were identified as a group who were being rapidly shut out of the market, with investors becoming dominant in the buying sphere," she said.

Earlier this month, the State Government released its much anticipated housing affordability strategy, Homes for Victorians.

The package included new stamp duty concessions for FHBs, the removal of stamp duty concessions for investors, and an increased bursary for FHBs buying in regional Victoria.

"For FHBs purchasing homes under $600,000, there will be no stamp duty requirement. For those purchasing a home from $600,000 to $750,000, stamp duty concessions will apply on a sliding scale," Ms Addison said.

"It is important to keep in mind that Melbourne’s median house price is currently sitting at $770,000, meaning over half of Melbourne’s housing stock will still be out of reach for FHBs hoping to take advantage of stamp duty concessions."The first homeowners grant in regional areas of Victoria has been increased from $10,000 to $20,000, and will be available for FHBs purchasing homes up $750,000 in regional Victoria.

The UDIA will release another video to provide further insight into the content of the government's Home for Victorians strategy.