Kirstie Spooner and Luke Willis bought their home in Upper Beaconsfield just before baby Miller made it three.By Paul Dunlop
FIRST came the house, then their first baby. It’s been a busy year for Luke Willis and partner Kirstie Spooner.
It’s also been a recordbreaking year for their fellow first home buyers in the Berwick and Pakenham areas.
The latest release of figures from the state revenue office reveal that the City of Casey had the highest number of successful first home bonus applicants of any local government area in Victoria.
First home buyers who are eligible for the grant receive $12,000 from the State Government when they purchase their first house, made up of the $7000 First Home Owners Grant and the $5000 First Home Bonus.
There were 2237 approvals in Casey to the end of the last financial year, with a further 442 successful applications in the Shire of Cardinia.
Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato said this translated into more than $13 million of assistance.
Ms Lobato said the grants were helping to keep housing affordable and to enable people to enter the market for the first time.
With housing prices averaging $240,000 in Pakenham and up to $300,000 in Berwick, the grants have been welcomed by buyers who would otherwise struggle to enter the market.
Mr Willis said the money had been handy.
Agent Brendan Langley for Ray White Real Estate in Pakenham said the $12,000 grants had been a big factor in house sales in the area.
“A lot of young people can’t buy a home without it,” he said.
Mr Langley said most first home buyers used the money as a basis for their deposit or the foundation of their savings.
