During 2009, the number of first Home Buyers who entered the Home Loan market was more than 70,000 greater than the number of same during 2008.
Undoubtedly this was primarily due to the First Home Owners Grant Boost.
Western Australia was the most popular state for first-home buyers during 2009. State government incentives of low or no stamp duty also boosted the market, as did a softening in property values during 2008.
We would expect that first-home buyer levels will fall back to historic average levels during 2010. This is likely to cause a turnaround in rental markets, with higher rents throughout the year. Lower levels of competition in the property market will probably attract more investors to the marketplace.
On a state-by-state basis, the second-greatest proportion of home loans for first-home buyers was found in Victoria (26.9 per cent), followed by NSW (26.8 per cent).
The markets that had the lowest proportion of first-home buyers during 2009 were South Australia (20.6 per cent), Northern Territory (21.1 per cent) and the ACT (22 per cent).