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The Miles Labor government has announced that it has increased the threshold for the first home owner concession on stamp duty by $200,000, from $500,000 to $700,000.
The state government confirmed that the concession will then phase out up to values of $800,000.
In addition, the enhanced incentives will also apply to the first home vacant land concession threshold, which has increased from $250,000 to $350,000, with the concession phasing out up to values of $500,000.
According to the Miles government, these changes to stamp duty concessions aim to target first home buyers (FHBs) in the ”spectrum of the market where they are more likely to face affordability challenges and find it harder to purchase a home”.
The increase in these concessions is estimated to support approximately 10,000 buyers a year to unlock their first homes.
Furthermore, the Miles government seeks to offset the demand from increased purchasing power for FHBs with increased stamp duty concession thresholds by increasing the foreign investor land tax surcharge to 3 per cent.
Currently, the land tax foreign investor surcharge in Queensland remains lower than other major states, notably NSW and Victoria, where surcharges are set at 4 per cent.
The transfer duty surcharge for foreign buyers will also be brought into line with NSW and Victoria at 8 per cent.
Premier Steven Miles said: “By increasing the eligibility threshold, we are giving aspiring home owners a fairer go.
“I want young Queenslanders to have more opportunity than their parents including the opportunity to own their own place. I want that for my kids too.
“This is a real cost of living measure, that will also help deliver inter-generational prosperity.
“The concessions will put the dream of owning a first home within reach of more Queenslanders.”
The Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) welcomed the announcement by the Queensland government “after a 15 year wait”.
REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said this was a “long-held advocacy and policy position” of the organisation.
“It is an easy and logical first step to address the home ownership emergency in this state and we congratulate the Government on listening to our calls for change,” she said.
“With Queensland having the lowest rates of home ownership of any state and declining first home buyer activity, a stamp duty overhaul is critically important.
“The current $500,000 threshold is extremely outdated and has rendered the stamp duty concession virtually redundant for first time buyers given material shifts in property prices.”
However, while the increased thresholds are welcomed, Mercorella stated that it is “still short of where it should be set” and leaves Queensland behind Tasmania.
This move by the Queensland government comes as the South Australian government announced the removal of stamp duty for FHBs who buy or build a new home as part of the state’s 2024–25 budget.
The Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, said on the motivation behind the abolition of stamp duty for FHBs: “We are amid a national housing crisis borne of successive governments failing to do enough to build new homes.”
[RELATED: SA removes stamp duty threshold for FHBs]
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