Finally, Kevin Rudd has indicated that the First Home Buyers grant is coming to an end,

"It's had a real effect, we're still measuring its full effect, but I think it's very important that as a community we understand that deadlines are imposed for a particular purpose," he said.

"It's had strong useful results so far, but I've got to say, that all good things must come to an end." -- Source

The property industry is already complaining, with Stockland's managing director Matthew Quinn coming out and saying "...we think that the market, the first homebuyer market, does have another six months to go before all of that underlying demand is soaked up and it will result in a rush of buyers towards the end of June" [ibid].

I'm not sure exactly what he means by "underlying demand" but I can only assume he means that an artificial lowering of the price (through low interest rates, first home buyers grants) will increase demand. Well obviously; the lower the price of any product, ceteris paribus, the greater the quantities that buyers will be willing to purchase. Add to that the constant trickery that interest groups have using on home buyers, such as: "you've just been wasting money on rent for the last 5 years, wouldn't it be nice to own your own place instead"; "it's just another, safer, form of investment!; and "interest rates are so low, plus this homebuyers grant will only be around for a while, if we keep enjoying life and decide to buy in five years, who knows how high they're going to be!" and you get more people buying homes -- younger and younger -- at the top of the credit bubble.

The government has misled, even if only indirectly, millions of people into levels of debt that they can't possibly service and even if they can, a lifetime of debt repayments. A house is not an investment. It's a consumer good that you have to upkeep. It's also a liability that you have to deal with if you lose your job. Fair enough, there may be non-economic reasons for home ownership, but if you're doing it because "house prices always go up", then it's time to consider renting instead. The government never offers you money to do intelligent things with it. As Ronald Reagan once said, the nine words you should be most afraid of in this world are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help".

Good riddance to the first home buyers grant; it was nothing more than a subsidy to the housing industry (and those related to it, building etc) at the expense of the taxpayer. It never helped the economy, it merely diverted resources from more productive means. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, I would go the other way and say it has (together with artificially low rates set by the RBA) probably resulted in many, many young Australians having a debt burden that's going to weigh them down for years to come, destroying families and lives in its wake.