Discount offered to apprentices, graduates and tradies in WA
Apprentices, university graduates and tradespeople are being offered a 1 per cent discount on Keystart home loans, which could save them up to $500 a month in repayments.
The discount is a key feature of Friday’s launch of the Keystart Skilled Start mortgage loan, which Labor promised during the March election campaign.
The loans will be given to TAFE or university graduates and anyone working in construction such as bricklayers, carpenters, roof tilers and electricians.
Finance Minister Rita Saffioti said the state could build more homes by helping construction workers become homeowners.
“This initiative will help put young Western Australians on a solid financial footing at the start of their careers, setting them up for success in the long term,” he said.
“By having more local construction workers in safe houses we can offer more homes to West Australians.”
The interest rate cut will see applicants’ home loans fall to 6.1 per cent from Keystart’s current rate of 7.1 per cent, bringing it more in line with major banks’ standard variable mortgage rates, which fluctuate between 5 and 7 per cent.
On a $750,000 loan, this could mean paying about $7,000 less in interest per year.
Applicants will also have access to free financial coaching through the programs.
Like all Keystart home loans, applicants can apply with a 2 percent deposit and avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.
However, home value caps on regular Keystart loans will also apply; This means it will only apply to established home purchases up to $700,000 and new, off-the-plan or under-construction homes worth $750,000.
The opposition has attacked the Cook government’s reluctance to remove or increase Keystart price caps since the election.
The average house price in Perth has risen 10 per cent in a year to $981,250, according to the latest Domain figures for the September quarter.
There were only about 125 established properties for sale for under $700,000 in the Perth area on the Real Estate Institute of WA site on Thursday, with most of them being shack-like villas.
The residential construction industry also remains constrained.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data on WA housebuilding approvals, released earlier this week, revealed total housing unit approvals were 2390 (up 28 per cent on the previous month) but this was driven by WA government housebuilding.
Private sector housing approvals remained steady in 1621.
Planning Minister John Carey said the new loan would help increase supply.
“This new product available through Keystart is another strong indication that nothing is off the table when it comes to providing greater supply to the housing and rental markets,” he said.
“This is part of our record $5.8 billion investment in housing measures since 2021, including the addition of more than 3,800 social homes during this time.”
Keystart approvals dropped after COVID-19 but are rebounding.
It approved more than 1,140 loans in the past 12 months, marking its most successful start to the financial year since 2021, with more than 670 loans approved.
The new Keystart loan comes the same week that the Western Australian parliament passed legislation allowing the Albanian government’s Help to Buy project to operate in the west.
The scheme began in other states last week but was delayed in WA after the government did not schedule the legislation to be debated in the upper house until the last minute.
The laws were passed on Wednesday, but the opposition gave Saffioti the boot for a last-minute rush.
“It goes without saying – I hope it goes without saying, but it bears repeating often – that control of the legislative agenda is with the government,” Liberal MP Tjorn Sibma said on Wednesday.
“The government needs to have insight and foresight into legislative priorities and understand which bills are urgent and why.”
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political correspondent and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Award for best political journalism.Connect with: excitement or email.
