Grants stimulate home building

Real estate agents in the Pilbara are reporting an increased interest in vacant land in the region after the State and Federal governments announced home builder stimulus packages earlier this month. The State Government’s Building Bonus, announced earlier this month, will run in conjunction with the Federal Government’s Home Builder grants, giving home buyers a possible $45,000 funding boost. Real Estate Institute WA Pilbara president Richard Naulls, pictured, said the number of inquiries for the Jingarri estate in Nickol West had been “unbelievable.” “It’s gone from getting one enquiry a month if we’re lucky, to getting four to five a day and two lots have sold already,” he said. “It’s done what it was meant to do from a building of new homes perspective, and the stimulus has been quite strong.” Mr Naulls said the interest in building new houses would have a flow-on effect for Karratha’s limited housing stock. “If people are building, they are either moving out of an existing house that they are looking to sell or rent out,” he said. “On the other side of it, building a house generates work for contractors, so it generates work over a broad range of areas, there’s lots of benefit to it.” LJ Hooker Karratha director Rachel Ross said there had been quite a bit of interest in their blocks since it was announced. “In fact, I had three blocks left in Baynton West, which have now all been sold since those announcements,” she said. Ms Ross said the coronavirus pandemic had impacted sales. “We had the COVID virus, and it just stopped dead in its tracks for six weeks,” she said. “We didn’t get any phone calls; it was a pretty depressing time.” Ms Ross said, depending on the property, investors were looking at a 7 to 10 per cent return on investment. In Port Hedland, Hedland Property Shop owner Jim Henneberry said there had been an increase in local organisations “snapping up” rental properties. “We have seen a big demand in rental take-ups because they can’t get the FIFO workers up here as easily as in the past,” he said. Mr Henneberry said he had leased 11 properties in the last week to businesses. “As far as new builds in Port Hedland are concerned, there are no new builds planned at the moment,” he said. “The demand is mainly for rental accommodation at the moment, and then we are hoping it will turn into residential demand in six to 12 months.” Vacant land surrounding the Exmouth Marina has spiked since the stimulus announcement. CMCK Constructions director Corey McKenzie said he had received a lot of inquiries, but he was worried about the timeline for the funding. “People are really going to have to have their lot and plans organised to be able to get it done in this year, that is my only concern,” he said.