The First Home Owner Boost in Australia: A Case Study of Outcomes in the Sydney Housing Market

Abstract

Abstract This article looks at the impact of the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) 'Boost', a cash grant to first home buyers, which was introduced by the Australian Federal Government as part of the stimulus package in response to the global financial crisis (GFC) between October 2008 and September 2009. This policy initiative, based on a pre-existing FHOG, introduced in 2000 as a temporary support for the house building industry following the introduction of the Federal Goods and Services Tax, provided a major additional financial stimulus targeted at first home owners at a time when the GFC was threatening to destabilise the home purchase market. The policy was also promoted as a way of stimulating demand for new residential property to support jobs retention in the residential development industry. New South Wales, and in particular Sydney, provides a lens through which we explore the outcomes of the stimulus in terms of the geography of FHOG take-up and the types of property bought. It also assesses the impact of the Boost on first home owner purchase rates and the impact this had on post-stimulus housing demand. 澳大利亚政府为了应对 2008 年至 2009 年间的全球经济危机, 在经济刺激计划中对首次购房者提供现金支持, 即 "强化版首次购房补贴计划"(FHOG Boost)。本文旨在考查这一计划的效果。这项计划的基础是 2000 年推出的"首次购房补贴计划", 这是当年实施联邦商品与服务税之后, 政府对住宅建设业的一项临时支持政策。2008 年至2009 年的全球经济危机造成住房市场的不稳定, 这项政策便针对首次购房者提供了额外的经济刺激。同时, 这项政策也试图通过刺激购房需求, 保持住宅开发业的工作岗位。新南威尔士, 特别是悉尼, 可以成为一个窗口, 供我们研究 "首次购房补贴计划" 参与者的地理分布, 以及所购房产的类型, 藉此评估刺激计划的效果, 并且评估强化版计划对首次购房率的效果, 以及对后刺激住房需求的影响。 Keywords: First home purchasershousing marketsglobal financial crisis Notes 1. Although the nature of the scheme meant that payments continued to eligible recipients for several years after the announced termination (Hicks et al., Citation2008). 2. The Appropriation (Economic Security Strategy) Bill (No. 2) 2008–2009 sought funding for the component of the Economic Security Strategy targeted at providing short-term increased assistance to those buying their first home. 3. http://www.osr.nsw.gov.au 4. It needs to be remembered that with or without such a grant, the very large majority of purchases would be of existing property given that this represents the principal component of the stock available at any one time. 5. Value derived from special ABS tabulation for households containing One Family Household with one partner aged between 25 and 34 and with one or more Dependants (ABS Census, 2006).