Queanbeyan first home owners say federal government support for regional buyers would be welcomed

Naomi Galvin and Sarah Cassidy admit they weren't looking for very long before they secured their first home, but it was still a challenging time.

The couple began actively looking to buy around Christmas and recently settled on a unit in Queanbeyan, on the ACT and NSW border.

"We were lucky enough to pick something up pretty quickly, but we did look at a fair number of properties prior," Ms Galvin said.

"We looked at places that we didn't think were worth the money and they went for far beyond what they were originally anticipating. So it was quite tough, to be honest."

Regional first home buyers would receive a helping hand under a new support scheme, federal Labor has pledged if elected this year.

In an ACM exclusive, Labor's housing spokesman Jason Clare said the scheme would assist 10,000 regional buyers a year and would run alongside the existing national First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.

Housing affordability will be a key voting issue in the next federal election for regional Australians, a new survey by the Property Council of Australia has found.

Ms Galvin said support of any kind would be welcome news for those trying to purchase their first home, particularly single-income households.

"The only reason I've gotten this place is because me and my wife worked for it together. But on my own it could have been years longer," she said.

"I was actually starting to think, the way the prices were going, it was never going to happen. So I'm grateful that it finally did."

Ms Galvin said there would often be 20 other people competing for the same property. In a border region like Queanbeyan, regional buyers can be competing with those who live and work in Canberra.

Census data from 2016 showed the median weekly household income was more than $200 higher in Canberra than in Queanbeyan.

"We're both tradespeople so we don't have the sort of income that would allow us to live in a house or a unit in Canberra, just the two of us, and so we decided that the only way we were actually going to get out [of the rental market] was to be able to buy," Ms Galvin said.

"We find Queanbeyan is a little cheaper, but it's still going up towards the same as Canberra [property prices]."

MORE PROPERTY NEWS:

The median house price in Queanbeyan rose to $765,000 in December 2021, up from $600,000 the year prior and $525,000 in 2019.

Ms Galvin and Ms Cassidy said their recent purchase is a "foot in the door" that wouldn't have been possible if they were renting.

"We've been living with our parents since we've been married to try and save the money for a house," Ms Galvin said.

"Luckily enough, we were able to live with them with very minimal costs but not everybody gets that, so it is very difficult to get that much money in the bank."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: