If one is planning to buy house Australia in this time of recession time, it could be cheaper to do so as the market are pretty down now.  The recession going around the world has hit the housing industry in Australia. People no longer can afford to buy houses. The interest rates offered by the banks are not conducive enough to attract people into investing in property. Buying a house is extremely exciting and a bit stressful too for one is making a huge investment, probably one of the biggest in your life. A long commitment, for most of people buys home through home loans. This home loan pays, most of the purchase price. Taking a home loan means that, you have to spend many years repaying off that loan.

Buying house by foreigner

For people buying house Australia for the first time, there are several legal requirements that one need to fulfil, if you are a foreigner. You need to get an approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. Once the investment proposal has been approved then it is easy to purchase property in Australia.

Government loan

Any one buying the house for the first time IN Australia is eligible for a First Home Owner Grant, a lump sum worth $7,000. This loan is applicable to the citizens of the country. People who go in for not newly constructed house will be eligible for a loan of $14,000, double the original grant.  People who go in for absolutely new construction get a grant of almost 21,000. Such grants were being shelled out by the government as a stimulus package to floundering housing industry in Australia. The grant on its own is not enough for a person to buy a house. He needs to have substantial saving in order to get a mortgage from a bank to buy a house. The maximum amount of money that you can borrow depends on the bank or the lender. They take into account the person’s salary before deciding as to what is the maximum amount that he can be lent. Usually most of the lenders allow couples to have a loan of five times their joint pre-tax income. This mortgage is applicable to only those who have been in a job for some time.

Stamp Duty

One of the major setbacks in buying house in Australia is the high stamp duty one has to pay on the purchase of the property. This stamp duty is a tax on the purchase price. For many first time buyers there are discounts on stamp duty if you happen to buy a lower priced property. In places like New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, the first time buyer does not have to pay any stamp duty if he has bought a property that is less than $500,000. The stamp duty rates differ in different parts of Australia. A house in Australia can be bought at list price or at an auction. When you through real estate website on the internet you will lists of agents advertising all kinds of house on sale. All you have to decide as to what kind of house at what budget you want to buy house Australia.