Is building a home more affordable than renting?

If you’ve been considering making the leap from renting to owning your own home, record-low interest rates mean that there’s never been a better time to enter the property market! 

With unprecedented buyer demand outstripping the availability of established properties and price growth expected to continue, building your own home is emerging as the best option for prospective home buyers.

Here’s a few things to consider when deciding on the best financial decision for you.

Financial incentives available for building 

Aside from many state and federal grants available for first-time buyers, building a home also saves you thousands on stamp duty. 

As you only pay based on the value of your land rather than the house and land combined, this significantly reduces the ‘invisible costs’ of purchasing established property.

For example, a buyer purchasing a $700,000 established property in Victoria would need to pay approximately $37,000 in stamp duty (not including transfer and registration fees). To purchase a block of land at the average cost of $319,000 would see stamp duty costs slashed to just over $12,000. 

Reducing the amount of principal you borrow, combined with the average loan period, means that repayments often end up being less than what you’d pay renting.

Save on energy bills 

Aside from costs like monthly rent and your bond, energy bills can also add up fast when renting. 

All Arden homes are built with sustainability front-of-mind, which means a more energy efficient home and more money in your pocket! We’re the only volume builder in Victoria to offer energy-saving solar panels as a standard inclusion, and this is further complemented with other energy efficient inclusions like double glazing to windows and LED downlights, just to name a few. These features all work together to not only add additional value to your home, but amplify your savings, too. 

Designed to maximise airflow and natural light, our designs mean you can give the air con and heating a rest – and save on your energy and electricity bills as a result. 

These features are becoming increasingly important to buyers, too, and will help with resale value of your home down the track.

Building your financial future

Building a home also represents the foundations of your financial future. As property values increase, so too does the strength of your financial position. Your mortgage repayments all go towards growing equity in a major asset, as opposed to renting where you’re helping someone else to secure their financial future. 

Our New Home Consultants have helped countless homeowners make the leap from renting, and would love to help you achieve your goal of homeownership. Get in touch with us for more information.