 First home owners repayments
A new poll has found that as many as one in five first-home buyers may struggle to repay their mortgage.
Research carried out by Datamonitor shows that 21 per cent of people who recently bought a home believe they may have some difficulty over the next five years.
Many first home buyers may be snapping up home loans in droves, and packing out auction houses, but concern is growing that many are signing mortgages they cannot afford to repay.
"These findings have important implications for the Reserve Bank’s attempts to stimulate the economy by lowering the cash rate," said Datamonitor senior analyst Peter Ingemarsson.
Datamonitor has also exposed figures that suggest that many first-home buyers may be getting short changed by the grants, as data suggests that they are pushing up house prices considerably.
The average price of a house in March 2009 stood at $281,000, up $50,000 from prices a year before.
First home buyers have been dominating the market, particularly at the lower and middle end since the boost to the first home owner's grant was announced last September. On Tuesday in the Federal Budget it was announced the boost would be extended past the 30 June cut off.
Now the grant is available in full until September. After 30 September, until December, eligible first home buyers can access half of the boost.
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