News Articles & Media Releases

06/02/10
New Loan Available
Writer: Gemma Nisbet
Publication: The New Homes Guide – The West Australian
Section: Housing Matters

First-homebuyer specialists Homebuyers Centre has launched a No Savings Home Loan.

It is aimed at people who have been kept out of the housing market due to banks tightening their lending criteria in response to the economic downturn.

Sales and marketing manager Jared Stone, right, said for an average home loan, banks required a 5-10 per cent deposit which had to be shown to have been saved.

“That’s around $20,000 on a $300,000 package and that’s not realistic for a first-homebuyer who is paying rent and might be supporting a family.

“The average first-homebuyer can save around $200 a week, so at the rate, it would take them 100 weeks – or 2 years – to save the deposit, and by that time, prices and interest rate will have risen and they’ve been pushed out of the market.”

Mr Stone said that Homebuyers Centre’s NO Savings Loan required applicants to have a 5 per cent deposit, but this amount did not need to have been saved by the buyer.

As a result, applicants can use their first-homebuyer grant, as well as gifts and loans from family members, to make up their deposit.

Mr Stone said this form of finance was exclusive to Homebuyers Centre.

“It means that clients can get in now instead of having the pipedream of saving for two years” he said. “They’re better off getting in now.”