First-time buyers of new homes in NSW will get an extra $3,000 from the state government in its bid to stimulate the ailing housing market.
The economic sweetener takes the grant to $24,000, including recent increases from the federal government.
Premier Nathan Rees will announce the plan next week when he reveals his government’s long-awaited mini-budget, Fairfax newspapers and News Limited report.
But for the first time in NSW the grant will be means-tested.
The state’s portion of $7,000 to $10,000 – for first-time buyers of existing and new homes respectively – will not be available for properties costing more than $750,000.
