It was boosted by $500 million last September when the state government released itsambitious housing statement,which aims to build 800,000 new homes in the next 10 years.
The scheme lowers the bar of entry for would-be home buyers,enabling them to buy a home with just a 5 per cent deposit and enter into a shared equity arrangement with the state,which owns up to 25 per cent of the property.
Indigenous Victorians can access the scheme with a 3.5 per cent deposit and 35 per cent government equity. Home owners have the option of later buying out the government’s share at market rates.
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The scheme is targeted at low- and middle-income earners,who can earn up to $130,485 individually,or $208,775 on two incomes to be eligible. Home prices are capped at $950,000 in Melbourne and $700,000 in regional Victoria.
The 2024-25 state budget injects a further $700 million into keeping the Victorian Homebuyer Fund running for one more year before its closure in mid-2025. The scheme was launched in 2021 with an initial $500 million and later expanded to $2.1 billion.
Brendan Coates,the economic policy program director at the Grattan Institute,said the scheme was a good way to help some lower-income people enter the property market.