Who can apply (eligibility):
Each person who owns a part of the home must be an applicant. This includes anyone who is or will be on the title of the property with you. If you have a spouse who will not own any part of the home, you must include them on the application as a non-applicant spouse. All applicants must meet the eligibility criteria.
You may be eligible for the grant if you are:
- at least 18 years of age
- not a company or a person acting as a trustee
- an Australian citizen or a permanent resident (or a joint applicant with someone who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident).
You may be eligible for the grant if you are a trustee of a trust (other than a discretionary or unit trust) and all the beneficiaries are individuals under a legal disability who will live in the home as their principal place of residence. You and your spouse have:
- never been paid the first home owner grant
- before 1 July 2000, not owned residential property in Australia
- from 1 July 2000, not lived in residential property (in Australia) you have owned.
You will:
- move into the home within one year of buying it
- live in the home for 6 months continuously as your principal place of residence.
The grant may be approved in special circumstances if you:
- are under 18 years of age
- move into the home after one year
- live in the home for less than 6 months.
However, we must consider that there are good reasons for you to get the grant".
Contact Grant Besley on 4632 1966 or email grant.besley@mccon.com.au if you require an obligation free lending quote or would like more information about the First Home Owners Grant. Hurry time is running out!
Westpac Banking Corporation's three major rivals are still reviewing their interest rates after the bank raised its standard variable lending rate by almost double the increase announced by the central bank.
Australia's second biggest home loan lender on Tuesday announced it would raise its standard variable home loan rate by 45 basis points to 6.76 per cent.
Westpac's move came after the Reserve Bank of Australia's decided to lift the cash rate by 25 basis points for the third time in as many months.
Westpac on Tuesday said it would also raise the interest rate it paid its online savings customers by 45 basis points while interest rates on business loans would rise by 25 basis points.
Credit card interest rates will increase by between 25 and 35 basis points, Westpac says.
The rate hikes take effect from Friday December 4.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia said Friday it will increase its' variable home loan lending rates by 37 basis points, effective Dec. 9.
The decision by CBA to pass on more than the Reserve Bank of Australia's 25 basis point rate hike is due to rising funding costs, the bank said.
The RBA hiked its cash rate target by 25 basis points to 3.75% on Tuesday. It was the third such hike in as many months.
"While the change in the official cash rate has partly contributed to this interest rate increase, the sustained increase in wholesale funding costs that we are experiencing has also been a major factor," said Ross McEwan, CBA's group executive, retail banking services.
"Wholesale funding costs continue to remain at record highs and, as cheaper funding expires and is replaced with more expensive funding, the overall cost of our funds has increased," he added.
The CBA move exceeds the 25 basis points passed on by the National Australia Bank Ltd, but is less than the 45 basis points passed on by Westpac Banking Corp.
NAB raised its interest rates by 25 basis points, in line with the increase enacted by the central bank and was a clear shot across the bow of rival Westpac, who shocked the market by raising its interest rate by 45 basis points.
NAB’s standard variable rate is now 27 basis points lower than Westpac, and market watchers say they cannot recall when the mortgage rates of two of Australia’s major banks diverged so greatly.
NAB spokesperson Lisa Grey said its move was a deliberate attempt by the lender to attract new customers.
The ANZ bank will raise rates by 35 basis points, and the CBA by 37, as Westpac is left isolated with the highest big four home loan rate.
ANZ announced its move at the banks' traditional favourite time of late Friday afternoon, with its increase 10 basis points above the Reserve Bank's 0.25 percentage point cash rate rise on Tuesday.
The ANZ's standard variable mortgage rate will now be 6.66 per cent, effective this Monday - although the devil's number will be looking a bit less evil to borrowers than Westpac's new rate of 6.76 per cent.
Westpac blamed its larger than expected rate hike on the cost of securing term funding from offshore wholesale markets.
The standard variable rates on home loans currently stand at 6.31 per cent at ANZ, and 6.24 per cent at CBA and NAB.
Contact Grant Besley on 4632 1966 or email grant.besley@mccon.com.au if you require more information about the interest rate rise and how it affects your financial situation.
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