Of course, first time buyers who entered the market in 2008 and 2009 would have made a tidy return on their money since. But is the top of a property boom really the time to be buying now? State governments still seem to think so, dangling stamp duty concessions in front of first time buyers. In Victoria and NSW, where governments have boosted concessions, first home buyers are surging forth. The restricted nature of the savings – to cheaper properties – clearly has buyers apparently reappraising the merits of shoe-box living. In NSW, the average loan size for a first time buyer has fallen from $377,000 to $351,000 over the year. In Victoria – where the number of first home buyers has exceeded NSW since January 2012 despite a smaller population – the average loan size is $324,000. But, dear diary, there is a definite chill in the property air. A two-bedroom unit I wrote about over a month ago – the one with a tiny bathroom and no internal laundry – ended up passing in at auction after a top bid of $750,000. The optimistic vendor subsequently put it on the market for sale at $779,000, but has been progressively dropping the price ever since. This week, it's for sale for $749,999.

Interestingly, that $30,000 drop in price is roughly equivalent to how much I could sock away in super using Treasurer Scott Morrison's "first home super saver scheme", which is finally set to hit Parliament this Monday. It's been six months since ScoMo announced his scheme to help first home buyers in the May budget. It was met with immediate cries from economists that all it would do is push up prices. But, diary, I was so excited! After missing out on all the good stuff all my life – the free university education, the property windfalls and the chance to sock away squillions into superannuation practically tax free – I was convinced my gravy train had finally arrived. ScoMo needs the support of all but two crossbenchers to get the scheme across the line, but Jacqui​ Lambie has "concerns" and David Leyonjhelm and Cory Bernardi are definitely not up for it. The idea is to allow first home savers to sock away a total of $30,000 into super accounts at a concessional tax rate, which they can later withdraw when they want to buy a home. Depending on your income, a person could avoid paying as much $6000 in tax this way, boosting their deposit amount by the same.

But there were limitations from the start. First, you can only put in money up to your total concessional contributions cap of $25,000 a year. For people with employers already putting in quite a lot of money on their behalf, this limits the speed at which money can be contributed. But perhaps more troubling has been how you're supposed to get the money out. Turns out the process will be quite convoluted. First home buyers wanting to purchase a property will have to first ask the Tax Office for an assessment of how much they have available in their super saver account. The Tax Office will then contact the first home buyers' super fund telling them how much to release. The Tax Office with then hold some aside to cover any tax liability. If the money doesn't get into the hands of the buyer in time, and the property is missed, the buyer then only has 12 months to spend the money on a property, or it needs to be returned to the super fund. Loading If the money is not returned in time, they face a 20 per cent penalty. Undoubtedly some savvy savers – with long-term planning horizons and good accountants – might be able to utilise such a scheme to successfully avoid paying some tax. But it's hardly the Bahamas.

Me? I think I'll happily forgo a few more smashed avos to avoid the whole palaver.