The Federal Government’s decision to widen the First Home Buyers Scheme will have amazing benefits to Victorian Real Estate.

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria has welcomed the plan unveiled by the Coalition Government, which will encourage first-home buyers on lower incomes to enter the property market with a deposit of just 5%.

In Melbourne and Geelong, a 5% deposit will mean that a potential homeowner would only need to save $30,000 to purchase a property worth $600,000. While across regional Victoria, first home buyers’ grants are capped to homes worth $375,000.

REIV CEO Gil King said the announcement had created a lot of excitement across Victoria’s real estate sector. “Our market will be boosted by new buyers, meaning further transactions in our community.” Gill said.

The Victorian real estate sector is already in healthy shape, the CoreLogic data for October showing that Melbourne dwelling values increased by 5.5% in the last three months, with the median house price up by 5.7%.

 “The expanded First Home Buyers scheme comes into effect in January 2020, will make it a lot easier for buyers looking to get into the rapidly growing markets in Melbourne and Geelong,” Gill said.

Consequently, Gill believes that conditions are perfect for Melbourne sellers. “If you were tossing up selling your home, now is the perfect time to do so.”