Stamp duty relief extension gives first home buyers wider choice in the shire

Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced last week the threshold for stamp duty exemption for first home buyers of newly built homes would be temporarily lifted to $800,000 - up from $650,000.

Stamp duty concessions will continue on a sliding scale, phasing out on homes costing $1 million. The previous cut-off was $750,000.

The changes, which are designed to boost the home building market during the coronavirus pandemic, start on August 1 and will last for 12 months.

Savings in stamp duty on newly-built homes are:

Highland Property Group's Luke Barbuto said, under the previous threshold, stamp duty exemption would have been available for only a limited number of one-bedroom homes in the shire.

"Now, it's been raised to $800,000, it will mean first home buyers can possibly get two bedrooms," he said.

"There will be a wider choice in all suburbs."

Mr Barbuto said one and two-bedroom apartments in stage three of Woolooware Bay Town Centre - which have been completed - would become even more attractive as they meet the new thresholds.

Mr Barbuto said one-bedroom units in stage four of the development, which also includes the new retail centre and revamped leagues club, would also qualify for stamp duty exemption, while two-bedroom units between $800,000 and $1 million would qualify for concessions.

Mr Barbuto said property prices in the shire had stayed the same, although some segments of the market were showing some strong growth.

"We haven't seen the substantial drops in property prices in the shire that have occurred in some other parts of Sydney," he said.

"It's an insular market. We are very busy and our inspection numbers are quite high.

"We are on track to do over 50 sales in July."