housing sustained by first home buyers

It's only first-home buyers entering the property market that is keeping the sector afloat, the Property Council of NSW says.The housing market in Sydney's west is enjoying a mini-property boom, the latest figures from the NSW Office of State Revenue shows.The number of sold sales across all western Sydney suburbs for the three months to February soared by up to 20 per cent on last year, News Limited reported.Sales in suburbs such as Blacktown and Penrith sales are up 20 per cent. In Liverpool, Campbelltown and Fairfield they are up 12 per cent - to a six-year high.The number of contracts exchanged in the three months to February was up more than 1,100 over the same period last year.But it is only the first-home buyers that are producing the figures, the NSW Property Council says.Its executive director, Ken Morrison, says the figures point to the need for extending incentives to get buyers into the market."The rest of the market is very, very flat and falling and we saw that this week with new data out from the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) on development approvals figures."So the rest of the market is extremely flat and falling."The only thing that is holding it up is this first home buyer incentive."NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal also attributed the sales increase to first time home buyers entering the market.He said that half the homes sold in the areas had been bought by first-home buyers, adding that more than 8,500 contracts had been exchanged in the last three months."We're seeing people take advantage of the NSW government stamp duty concessions and the first home-owners grant to move from rental accommodation into their first home," he told ABC Radio on Saturday.

well, lets see if the councils can see their way through being power wielding dictators and actually allow small developers to build and help the economy to resurrect instead of obstructing the way as they have been to date