The Property Planner, Buyer and Professor met this morning for a 'breaking news' recording on the $688 million HomeBuilder stimulus package announced by the federal government yesterday. The new package aims to safeguard the jobs of a million tradies, and to prop up the construction industry which was teetering on the edge of oblivion. Home buyers and home renovators will be offered a cash grant of $25,000 for signing a contract to purchase a new dwelling, build or renovate from today through to 31 December 2020. Hear the full story as David Johnston, Cate Bakos and Peter Koulizos take you through: •Setting the scene, why this package was initiated by the federal government. Supporting over one million employees, around 9% of all employees in the country are working in the construction industry, which provides an estimated $100 billion and a whopping 5 per cent of our economic output each year. •How home building in Australia was collapsing prior to Covid-19 after four boom years to 2017-18, when the industry started around 225,000 homes a year. Starts have since fallen to around 165,000 this financial year due to a cascading set of events from the tightening of finance by APRA, The Banking Royal Commission and the exit of investors, particularly from offshore, and the consequent inability to finance apartment projects. •Unpacking the In's and Out's of the scheme, who can take advantage and the criteria for grant approval, how, where, when and why. •Discuss why the package is well balanced, whilst also dissecting some potential weaknesses. •How state government has said it will play a role in speeding up council approvals if needed, which must be obtained prior to signing the build contract. •Why regional areas and first-time buyers may be the big winners due to the lower value entry points, and the state-based grants and stamp duty benefits already on offer. A close second could be those who were about to embark on a major home renovation. •The impact this could have on the established property market. We could see a resurgence in home buyers wanting to buy a doer upper home. To do this within the almost 7-month time frame is no mean feat. •How the economic effects of the stimulus will flow through the broader economy and property market on a macro-economic level and this will mostly be a good news story. •Why Australia continues to build on its international reputation as a safe haven for the flow of overseas investment and capital which is vital to our economic prosperity as a capital importing nation. This has been reflected in the international willingness to purchase our government bonds, the Aussie dollar and ASX share market. The latter two of which hit 5 month and 3 month-high's respectively this week. •And of course, our "gold nuggets"!