Who is eligible 

You are eligible if:

• You are buying/building their first property as a person, not as a company or trust;
• You (or a joint applicant) are an Australian citizen or permanent resident;
• You or your spouse have not previously owned an interest in land in Australia that had a residence on it prior to July 1 2000.

If the you are married or living in a de facto relationship for more than two years, neither your or your spouse can have owned a home, individually or with any other person.

What type of property is eligible?

It does not matter if you are building a new home or purchasing an established home. The home can be a house, unit, flat or any other type of self-contained, fixed dwelling that meets local planning standards.

The transaction is eligible if:

• The contract to buy a home in Queensland was made on or after 1 July 2000; or
• The owners of the land in Queensland made a comprehensive building contract on or after 1 July 2000 to have a home built; or
• An owner builder started building a home in Queensland on or after 1 July 2000.

When is the grant payable?

The grant is paid:

• For the purchase of a home - when the title is registered in the purchaser’s name; or
• For the construction of a home - when the building is ready for occupation as a home.

It is important to note that all applicants must occupy the home as their principal place of residence within one year of this event.

For more detailed information visit the Office of State Revenue Website at  www.osr.qld.gov.au or speak to one of the Team at Finance Know How.

Finance Know How has access to 100% home loans, and with the new QLD budget releasing the abolishment of Stamp and Mortgage Duty in QLD from July 1 2008, it has never been easier to get your first home!

So what does this mean for you?

Means that first home buyers in QLD do not now have to find the extra money associated with covering the costs of Stamp Duty or Mortgage Duty. So therefore, the amount a first home buyer may need to contribute towards a deposit is even less! Making buying your first home easier than ever!

For further information, read this article posted on www.heraldsun.com.au

Mortgage duty will be abolished from July 1, the first-home buyer transfer duty exemption threshold will be increased and the transfer duty rate schedule revised.

The move is expected to save up to $9500 for an average first-home buyer, but those buying more expensive properties will have to pay more.

“It’s a tough Budget if you own a coal company, it’s a tough Budget if you’re trying to buy a $2 million house, but it’s a pretty great Budget if you’re trying to buy your first house,” Mr Fraser said.

Housing Industry Association Queensland executive director Warwick Temby said the move would make housing more affordable following a series of interest rate rises.

By Gabrielle Dunlevy and Jessica Marszalek

June 03, 2008 05:44pm http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23804828-5005961,00.html

Stephen McMahon in the hearldsun.com.au reports on June 5 2008:ANOTHER interest rate rise to 7.5 per cent towards the end of the year is firmly on the Reserve Bank’s radar after yesterday’s stronger-than-expected growth figures.

Despite high inflation and four interest rate rises since August, the RBA will be concerned that economic growth is not slowing enough.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday reported that gross domestic product grew 0.6 per cent in the March quarter - double economists’ consensus forecast, taking the annual rate to 3.6 per cent.

Most economists had been expecting the rate to be closer to 3 per cent.

On Tuesday, the RBA left rates on hold at a 12-year high of 7.25 per cent for the third consecutive month.

However, investors on the Sydney Futures Exchange see a 100 per cent chance of an interest rate rise by November, up from just below 70 per cent on Tuesday.

Ten out of 17 industry sectors reported growth of 1 per cent or more in the quarter, pushing the annual GDP rate to 3.6 per cent.

Economists said the improvement in the farm sector after years of drought was helped by the surge in food prices over the past 12 months.

But it was strong growth in construction, household and government spending that were the driving forces behind the economy’s 17th year of growth.

Commonwealth Bank economist John Peters said growth was down from last year’s cracking pace of 4 per cent-plus, but the slowing trajectory would not be enough to stop interest rates going up again, most likely in August or September.

He said a massive inflow of $30 billion to $40 billion from the commodity price increases over the next few months, added to the Budget tax cuts and the recovery of the farming sector, would outweigh higher interest rates and petrol prices.

“This all combines to boost the risks of another interest rate rise,” Mr Peters said.

The pace of economic growth in the March quarter shocked economists, beat the estimates of all 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Two economists had even gone as far as forecasting negative growth.

But NAB senior economist Jeff Oughton said all of the forward indicators were for slowing economic growth, and with the lags in monetary policy he said the RBA had done enough and rates should stay on hold for the rest of the year.

“The full effects of the interest rate tightenings in November, February and March have yet to flow through the economy,” Mr Oughton said.

He expects the tax cuts and riches flowing from mining to be outweighed by the RBA’s actions to date.

“There is an order of things - first you put up interest rates, then the economy slows and finally inflation comes down - and that is the progression we are in the midst of,” Mr Oughton said.

But he admits the NAB forecasts for rates on hold could be upset by stronger global economic growth and higher petrol and food prices flowing through into pressure for wage increases.

The stronger-than-expected GDP growth sent the Australian dollar to a top of US95.83 in late trading.

But the Aussie’s burst of momentum in recent months is expected to be crimped by the renewed strength of the US dollar following comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke.

On Tuesday Mr Bernanke signalled that the next move for US interest rates was likely to be up, in a bid to counter inflation.

In response to the global credit crunch, the Fed has cut US rates by 2.25 per cent since September to a low of 2 per cent.