![33 Woodger Parade, Karabar sold for $491,000.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701091942im_/https://static.domain.com.au/domainblog/uploads/2017/07/01083213/2_gwzlbx.jpg)
Queanbeyan first home buyers faced added competition from Canberrans on the first day of the financial year as the NSW government’s new stamp duty concessions began driving demand.
Ian McNamee & Partners Queanbeyan director Darren Bennett said the changes have spurred inquiry for established, entry-level properties in Queanbeyan and other towns on the ACT’s fringe.
Number 33 Woodger Parade in Karabar was among the properties auctioned on Saturday.
Ian McNamee & Partners Queanbeyan agent Mark Higgs said more than 70 groups inspected the three-bedroom, en suite home.
Despite the frosty start to the morning, about 50 people gathered to watch five registered bidders vie for the property.
Mr Bennett said the bidders were a mix of Canberrans and Queanbeyan locals, however it was a local first home buyer who secured the property for $491,000.
The agency sold another property at 10 Early Street in Queanbeyan to a first home buyer on Saturday afternoon.
The three-bedroom house sold under the hammer for $475,000 via agent Steve Taskovski. There were six registered bidders.
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Mr Bennett said Queanbeyan stock levels were trailing demand and houses between $450,000 and $650,000 were being snapped up quickly.
“ACT buyers are now starting to look harder,” Mr Bennett said.
“[The stamp duty concession changes] have had a big effect in a short amount of time.”
Back in the ACT, one of the biggest sales of the day was a Griffith property, on the market for the first time in 80 years.
![Number 15 Stuart Street, Griffith, sold for $1,260,000.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170701091942im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/q/q/6/x/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1497575218810.png)
Number 15 Stuart Street, Griffith, sold for $1,260,000. Photo: Supplied
Number 15 Stuart Street was built in 1939 and occupies a 1059-square-metre block close to Manuka Village.
It sold under the hammer for $1.26 million via Peter Blackshaw Manuka agents Mario Sanfrancesco and David Stokes.
The Griffith sale contributed to an ACT clearance rate of 75 per cent, according to Domain Group data – up from last week’s 70 per cent.