Tamworth property: Stamp duty alternatives announced in NSW budget 2022/23 will 'only benefit city buyers'

From next year, first home buyers purchasing a property for up to $1.5 million will have the option of skipping stamp duty, under a new housing package announced in the state budget.

Instead, they can pay an annual property tax of $400 plus 0.3 per cent of the property's land value.

But LJ Hooker Tamworth director Sam Spokes told the Leader while the changes will be great for city or metropolitan buyers, they won't benefit those in regional areas like Tamworth.

Instead, they could end up paying more in the long run.

"I don't think it will make much of a difference to first home buyers in Tamworth, I actually I think it's going to have the opposite effect," he said.

People purchasing their first home in NSW are already exempt from paying stamp duty on new and existing homes valued at up to $650,000.

For properties between $650,000 and $800,000, they're eligible for stamp duty discounts of a few thousand dollars.

With the median house price in Tamworth around $437,000, Mr Spokes said there would be very few people buying their first home for more than $800,000 locally.

"There's very few houses in Tamworth selling over $800,000 full stop," he said.

"With it just being announced locally that rates are going to rise again in Tamworth, what's the annual costs going to be, rather than the annual stamp duty fee?

"I think it potentially is going to cost more money for first home buyers who already qualify for the first home buyers exemptions and didn't have the annual fee, and would now pay the annual fee."

READ ALSO:

With the changes due to come into effect from January 16 next year, Bell Partners director and financial planner Trent Balderston said it leaves plenty of time for buyers to weigh up their options.

He agreed while skipping stamp duty could make it easier to break into the market, choosing an annual land tax could become more expensive in the long-term.

"It makes it a little bit easier if they're already trying to service big loans, or if they're a little bit short on their deposit," he said.

"But realistically, if we're capping it at $1.5 million, if you take the assumption that the land value on a $1.5 million property in the city is $1 million, over 30 years you pay roughly $102,000 in land tax versus paying the stamp duty at the current rate which is about $67,000.

"So for everyone that is looking at this as a leg up to get in there - you're looking at a situation where you're probably going to pay more over the long term."

When it comes to realistic solutions for housing affordability, building more houses is "the only sure-fire solution", Mr Balderston said.

He said some positive initiatives have been put forward in the budget to increase supply, including spending money on speeding up new build approvals, rezoning applications and picking up infrastructure projects that are ready to go.

"Realistically, new developments and new housing estates and providing new housing for the region is what's going to help with housing affordability for the regions," he said.

"For the cities its different because they run out of land, but in the regions anything that can be done to help more supply become available is useful."

Tuesday's budget also included the establishment of a shared equity property purchase scheme for key workers.

To operate as part of a two-year trial, the scheme would see the government take a stake of up to 40 per cent for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes in a participant's home.

In return for the government being able to share in future capital gains, participants will be entitled to lower monthly repayments.

The scheme is also only open to first-home buyers who work as teachers, police or nurses; single parents with at least one child under 18; and a single person 50 years or above.

Overall, Mr Balderston said the budget did well in terms of strategies to alleviate affordability in the areas of health, childcare and housing.

"There have been some pretty creative steps from the NSW budget to get people in without causing an overall crash to the property market," he said.

"Right now while you've got a period of rising inflation and rising interest rates, you'll probably see some corrections to property prices over time in terms of housing affordability."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: