Which regions have the most homes eligible for HomeBuilder?

The Morrison Government's highly anticipated 'HomeBuilder' scheme was announced last week, to mixed reception, with a key criticism being that the criteria needed to qualify are too narrow. 

To be eligible for the HomeBuilder scheme, you must:

• Be an Australian citizen aged 18 years or older and be an individual, not a company or trust.
• Be on an income of less than $200,000 for couples, and $125,000 for singles.
• Be spending between $150,000 and $750,000 on a renovation for a home that has been previously valued at less than $1.5 million. 
• Be using it for an owner-occupied property, not an investment one. 
• Be building a new home worth less than $750,000 (this includes land value). 

To qualify for the $25,000 grant, two of the key criteria that need to be met are that the property must be owner-occupied and must be valued at under $1.5 million for renovations and $750,000 for buying newly-built homes. 

With this in mind, new data from CoreLogic's Property Pulse shows the top 10 and bottom 10 regions by the number of owner-occupied properties worth less than $1.5 million. 

The data also takes into account a rough estimate of the portion of all family households that are below the $200,000 income limit for the HomeBuilder scheme, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data. 

It doesn't factor in the renovation size which still needs to be met, but below are the top 10 regions by eligible HomeBuilder properties. 

Source: CoreLogic, ABS

"The data suggests that the highest number of owner-occupied properties is located in the Melbourne - South East region, which spans from Mount Waverley out to Bunyip," CoreLogic Head of Research Eliza Owen said.

"In fact, there are four Melbourne regions that have over 100,000 owner-occupied properties estimated to be valued under $1.5 million. These regions represent the fringe of the metropolitan area, and include some relatively low income areas compared to the inner-city regions of Melbourne.

"The Perth - North West region has the second highest volume of properties. The Perth - North West region spans from part of Glendalough, up to the Yeal Nature Reserve in the north."

The bottom 10 list tells a different story. 

According to CoreLogic, some regions, such as Sydney's Northern Beaches, have a large number of properties that surpass the $1.5 million property value cap, while others like outback and regional Australia have a low population of dwellings and are unlikely to take up the scheme anyway. 

"In fact, CoreLogic estimates there are about 4.4 million owner-occupied properties across Australia with a high confidence valuation below $1.5 million, but the federal government estimates the scheme may only support about 7,000 renovations Ms Owen said. 

"While part of this is the income cap put on the scheme, it is also due to the high value of renovations that is set in the eligibility criteria. The renovations qualifying for the HomeBuilder Scheme must be worth between $150,000 and $750,000.

"For areas where dwelling prices and incomes are relatively low, this may lead to owners over-capitalising on renovations, where they cannot recoup the cost of upgrades to the property."

Below are the bottom 10 regions by eligible HomeBuilder properties. 

Source: CoreLogic, ABS

The HomeBuilder grant also cannot be used for additions to the property that are not connected to the home, such as swimming pools, tennis courts, outdoor spas and sheds.

The grant will be offered for contracts entered into between 4 June 2020 and 31 December 2020, and construction must be contracted to begin within three months of the contract date to be eligible.

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