NSW stamp duty scheme a ‘standout’ 

REAL Estate Institute of NSW CEO Tim McKibbin recommends first home buyers in Australia’s priciest realty market, Sydney, to check out the state’s First Home Buyer Assistance scheme. 

The NSW government initiative, launched in July 2023,  gives a full exemption from stamp duty on new or existing homes up to $800,000, while those over $800,000 and less than $1,000,000 may qualify for a lesser concession. 

It also applies to vacant land, offering the exemption on land valued up to $350,000 and the concessional rate on blocks over $350,00 and less than $450,000. 

McKibbin calls the incentive the “stand-out” measure for first home buyers in the state.  

“Obviously, if you don’t have to come up with some tens of thousands of dollars in stamp duty it’s welcomed particularly for first home buyers,” he says. 

However, the program has some flaws, according to the chief of the property industry body. 

“I’ve always found it a bit entertaining, because the median house price in Sydney is over $1 million so you’re saying to yourself ‘by the time I go a buy the property it’s not worth very much to me,’” McKibbin explains. 

“People like to call the stamp duty (initiative) an incentive but I’m not sure you’d get me over the line on that one because it’s actually the removing of a disincentive, what they’re doing is removing a tax which is artificially put on the price.”