WA Budget Lifts First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Thresholds for First Time Since 2014

Western Australia's first home buyers received their first stamp duty threshold increase in almost a decade when Treasurer Rita Saffioti handed down the Cook Government's first Budget on 9 May 2024.

From that day, first home buyers pay no transfer duty on homes valued up to $450,000, up from $430,000, and a concessional rate on homes up to $600,000, up from $530,000. It was the first time the thresholds had been changed since July 2014.

What buyers save

The government said the changes would save eligible buyers up to $15,390 and benefit up to 5,000 first home buyers a year. Broker Daily reported that $82 million had been allocated to the threshold increase.

According to API Magazine, a first home buyer purchasing a $450,000 property would now pay no stamp duty, a total saving of $15,390, while a buyer purchasing a $530,000 home would receive the maximum additional saving of $7,180 under the revised thresholds.

Saffioti said the measure was important given the growth in house prices since the thresholds were last changed, and suggested it might also help first home buyers move out of rental housing, freeing up homes for other tenants.

Why the change was needed

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia had called for the increase in its Budget submission. Its chief executive, Cath Hart, said strong price growth meant first home buyers were not only paying more, but were increasingly unable to access concessions that exempted only properties worth $430,000 or less. She noted that Perth's median house price had reached around $630,000.

Hart also welcomed the government's preference for incentives to boost supply rather than new taxes, and said the state's population was forecast to reach 3 million in the following financial year, which would keep pressure on housing demand.

The wider housing package

The stamp duty changes were part of a $1.1 billion housing and homelessness package. Other measures included:

• A $5,000 incentive for owners of vacant properties to offer them as long-term rentals.
• An extension of the short-term rental accommodation incentive scheme.
• An additional $400 million for the Social and Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
• $85 million to grow the residential construction workforce.
• $34.8 million to unlock development-ready land in Broome, Karratha and Kalgoorlie.

The opposition was critical of the vacant property scheme, with shadow housing minister Steve Martin calling it a band-aid measure that did not address the mismatch between supply and demand.

The 2024 changes proved to be the first of several. By the 2026-27 Budget, the government was delivering what it called its third round of first home buyer stamp duty relief, with the no-duty threshold lifted to $600,000.