Percy does not know it but a tax break switch-up helped get him a prime position on his family's couch.
The dog's owners, Matthew Fowler and wife Jess, were among 33,000 first-home buyers able to secure a property and save on stamp duty in the past year in NSW.
Data released on Wednesday showed home-owners saved an average of $20,000 under the scheme, recently broadened to include homes up to $1 million.
About 840 beneficiaries were in Newcastle, including Mr Fowler and his wife, who'd watched inner suburbs gentrify out of affordability for the past decade before they stumbled on a gem in the city's west.
The stamp-duty relief freed up cash to quickly introduce the new household member, who has well and truly settled in.
"Renting before and living in units, there was just no possibility for a dog, really," Mr Fowler, 31, told AAP.
First-home buyers purchasing property under $800,000 in NSW pay no stamp duty after the exemption threshold was raised from $650,000 in July 2023.
Purchases below $1 million get a partial tax break.
The average age of first home buyers has been on the rise, now sitting at 37 in Sydney and 36 in Melbourne, according to the Property Council.
Premier Chris Minns said his government's broadened scheme had helped stop a mass exodus of young people leaving NSW.
"It's bearing fruit," he told reporters.
"$20,000 ... could be the difference between a young family being able to bid on a house and getting it, versus missing out or not even having the amount of money required to get to the deposit stage or bid at auction."
Collectively, first-home buyers saved more than $683 million on stamp duty in the 2023/24 financial year.
More than 5600 people saved $115 million in the Cumberland, Blacktown and Parramatta areas of Sydney alone, while 13,000 people saved in regional areas including Central Coast (1324), Wagga Wagga (346) and Tweed (328).
More than two-thirds of first-home buyers who accessed the scheme paid no stamp duty at all, helping to balance competition in the market, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said.
Such tax breaks have been criticised for adding further heat to an already unaffordable housing market.
Research released in July suggested Sydney's housing market would remain unaffordable into the 2030s.
Study senior author Chyi Lin Lee urged governments to find a better balance between demand-side and supply-side interventions.
"By boosting the supply of affordable housing, the government can help alleviate the pressure on the housing market as a whole and improve affordability for aspiring homebuyers," the University of Sydney academic said.
The NSW premier agreed boosting supply through lower-cost, well-located apartments was the next part of the puzzle.
"That's exactly what our planning changes will bring about," Mr Minns said.
