A one-bedroom apartment in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta was listed for $525,000 last week.
And real-estate agent Lynda Webster says there is interest.
"We haven't noticed any slow(down), no. The only thing I have noticed is that the frenzy's gone from the buyers. We've had a massive buyers' frenzy, which has calmed down quite a lot."
Ms Webster says half a dozen contracts have gone out.
"It's been a very wide range of people who have come to this property, a very wide range -- not as many first-home buyers as I was hoping, but, yes, they're definitely out there now that the rules have changed."
From Saturday in New South Wales, first-home buyers will be exempt from stamp duty for new and existing properties up to $650,000 and partially exempt up to $800,000.
BIS Oxford Economics managing director Rob Mellor says that will make a difference in the state.
"The state government's opening up of stamp-duty exemption up to $650,000 and partial exemption up to $800,000 means that, for a first-home buyer, they could be saving $25,000 or more in stamp duty."
In Victoria, stamp duty will be abolished for purchases under $600,000 and on a sliding scale up to $750,000.
But a data scientist at the property group Domain, Nicola Powell, says more needs to be done.
"But there are other things that need to be addressed to really activate that market. One of the biggest hurdles we're finding with first-home buyers at the moment is saving that lump-sum deposit. Under the economic climate we're currently in, where wages growth is so minimal, it's really hard for first-home buyers to save that lump-sum deposit."
From Saturday, the First Home Super Saver Scheme will allow savers to put extra money into superannuation, then draw it out in a year to help with a deposit.
Rob Mellor says that will help.
"The Federal Government's scheme of being able to put extra money into your super and then draw that money out, I think, is actually a very good scheme. Effectively, depending on what you can save over the next three or four years, you could get a $10,000 tax benefit, maybe even a $12,000 or $13,000 tax benefit."
Domain's Nicola Powell reminds buyers that their first home is not always their forever home.
"It's about re-evaluating, perhaps, what a first home is and actually thinking outside the box.* Perhaps that's looking at a different type of property, or perhaps that's becoming a 'rentvestor.' We're seeing this trend grow and grow, particularly in New South Wales, where first-home buyers really are forced out of the market. And what they are doing is continuing to rent where they currently live, and they buy in the more affordable market that is more affordable to their price point."
