Queensland just doubled the First Home Owner Grant, fifteen thousand to thirty, for contracts signed from this month through mid-2025. That's a meaningful number for the right buyer.
Worth being clear about who that is, though. It only applies to new homes, not established ones, which shapes buyer behaviour more than people initially assume. A first home buyer chasing this grant is being nudged toward new builds and off-the-plan purchases, in a market where builder insolvency risk is genuinely elevated right now.
I don't think the grant is bad policy. Thirty thousand dollars matters enormously to someone trying to get a deposit together. But it's not a neutral incentive. It's steering demand toward a segment of the market, new construction, that comes with its own risks the grant itself does nothing to address.