Wednesday, 6 March 2024

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:08): (756) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for the Treasurer to review the value of the cap on the purchase price for the Victorian Homebuyer Fund. I have a constituent who wants to go and be their first home buyer, enter into the market and purchase a home in Cockatoo. They have applied for the State Revenue Office to assess their eligibility, but the issue around this is that the median house price in Cockatoo is around $780,000 to $800,000, yet the maximum cap price for regional Victoria – and Cockatoo is classified as regional – is $600,000. It is one of those situations where this funding stream for homebuyers was introduced some years ago – I think it was probably seven years ago – and it has not kept pace, we will say, with the increasing values of homes.

Now, I am sure that there are cases in metropolitan Melbourne, but I will keep mine specifically in the regions. Rather than asking Cockatoo to have a special cap, I think we should ask the Treasurer to look at that whole upper limit and at enabling people to have their first home and enter their home. Of course we all know that for so many people it seems to be getting further and further away – the opportunity, the potential and the reality of owning their own home and getting into the market. We know – and I am sure we in this place appreciate the huge benefit and privilege it is to own your own home – that we need to still continue to provide for people to be on the front foot and have access, where possible, to these grants.

As I said, I note that in country Victoria during COVID when there was a mass exodus of people from Melbourne, country prices for domestic real estate went up considerably. I know from speaking to some of my real estate constituents in Eastern Victoria Region, indeed in far east Gippsland, that people were buying them just off the photo, which they were saying was quite unusual.

In order to support this constituent, could the Treasurer please review the value of the upper limit of the purchase price with a view to increasing it and enabling more people to get these first home buyer grants.