There is perhaps no question more vexing for young Australians today than the decision whether to buy or rent a home.
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Of course, for many, there is no choice at all. Lacking the substantial deposit required, they rent by default.
But for many, the logic of home-ownership is unquestionable. Rent money is dead money. Why pay off someone else's mortgage? Property prices always go up.
The decision in the Mudgee region may be made for you with a decline in the available family-sized rental properties.
The residential vacancy rate for the Orana region is at 3.7 per cent for May 2017, compared to 4.6 per cent in June 2016, according to the Real Estate Institute of NSW.
A search of available houses – with a three bedroom minimum – on realestate.com.au showed 25 rentals available in Mudgee, 19 priced lower than $500 per week.
Gulgong has four, and the Rylstone/Kandos area has six.
Andrew Palmer from Mudgee’s The Property Show has described the market as having “an incredible change”.
“The market has gone from being a fairly consistent steady supply, we’ve now got an absolute shortage of rental properties available across the district, in particular, modern three and four bedroom homes.
“They’re the sort of properties families are looking for – at the moment we just don’t have enough to offer.
“We are receiving multiple applications, and they are going very quickly,” he said.
Another positive in the ‘buy-side’ of the argument is the recent planned change to stamp duty by the Federal Government.
Under the package, first home buyers of existing and new properties costing up to $650,000 will be exempt from paying stamp duty from July 1. This lifts the value of eligible properties from the existing $550,000 and reintroduces existing homes to the scheme.
Buyers of first homes worth between $650,000 and $800,000 will receive stamp duty discounts. The changes to stamp duty concessions are estimated to deliver savings of up to $24,740 for a first home buyer in NSW.
If you’re still trying to decide – buy or rent – The Property Shop is holding an information night for first home buyers at Club Mudgee on Wednesday, June 28 at 6pm to help explain the new rules.
