HomeBuilder is off to the races

An interesting data point from Eliza Borrello for ABC News in “Can HomeBuilder be used as a deposit? Questions leave prospective house buyers confused”. After less than a week since HomeBuilder was announced:

… more than 208,000 people had visited the Federal Government's HomeBuilder webpage and more than 15,600 Australians had registered an interest.

It’s off to a good start as the government had expected 27,000 Australians to apply for it.

There’s also a bit of useful information addressing whether the $25,000 HomeBuilder grant can go on a deposit:

NAB:

The ABC understands NAB customers will be able to put HomeBuilder grants towards a deposit, but the total deposit required will not change.

ANZ:

An ANZ spokesman said the $25,000 could be used as part of the equity a customer contributed to building costs, as long as a loan was not subject to lenders mortgage insurance (LMI).

LMI is insurance borrowers have to take out if they have not saved a 20 per cent deposit for their home.

CBA and Westpac didn’t respond with clear guidance. So right now, the quick answer is that it depends on the lender with many still figuring out how to work it into their lending criteria.