The Complete First Home Buyer Guide for Australia

Who counts as a first home buyer in Australia?

There is no single national definition of a first home buyer. Each scheme sets its own rules, and the differences matter, because you can qualify for one form of help while missing out on another.

The federal 5% Deposit Scheme (the expanded First Home Guarantee) uses the most generous test. You count as a first home buyer if you have never owned property in Australia, or if you have not held any interest in Australian real property in the past 10 years. You must also be 18 or over, an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and buying a home to live in, not an investment property.

Most state schemes are stricter. The First Home Owner Grant and most stamp duty concessions typically require that you have never owned residential property in Australia at all. Common conditions across the states include:

• You are a natural person (not a company or trust) aged 18 or over.
• At least one applicant is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
• You move into the home, usually within 12 months of settlement or completion.
• You live there continuously for six to twelve months, depending on the scheme.

The ACT sits somewhere in between: its stamp duty relief covers anyone who has not owned property in the previous five years. The practical takeaway is simple. Check the definition on every scheme separately, because owning a property years ago does not automatically rule you out of everything.

Every first home buyer scheme at a glance

Australian first home buyers can draw on two layers of help: federal schemes that make a small deposit workable, and state schemes that hand you cash or cut your stamp duty. Here is the full menu as of 2026.

Many of these stack. A buyer purchasing a new home could use the 5% Deposit Scheme, collect their state's First Home Owner Grant and pay little or no stamp duty on the same purchase, provided they meet each scheme's separate eligibility rules.

The 5% Deposit Scheme (First Home Guarantee)

The biggest hurdle for most first home buyers is the deposit, and this scheme attacks it directly. Under the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, you buy with a minimum 5% deposit and Housing Australia guarantees part of your loan to the lender. Because the lender carries less risk, you pay no Lenders Mortgage Insurance, a cost that can otherwise run into tens of thousands of dollars. Single parents and legal guardians need only a 2% deposit.

The scheme was overhauled on 1 October 2025 and is now far bigger than the old First Home Guarantee:

• Unlimited places. The old annual caps and waitlists are gone.
• No income caps. The previous income limits were removed entirely.
• Higher property price caps. Caps now range from $600,000 in the Northern Territory to $1.5 million in Sydney and major NSW regional centres. Melbourne and Geelong sit at $950,000, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast at $1 million, Perth at $850,000 and Adelaide at $900,000, with lower caps outside the capitals.
• One scheme for everyone. The separate Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee was folded in.

The scheme covers houses, townhouses and units, both established homes and new builds, and you must live in the property you buy. One warning: anything you read that was written before October 2025 probably quotes income caps and place limits that no longer exist. Check the current rules on the scheme's official government website.

Help to Buy and the First Home Super Saver Scheme

Help to Buy: the government becomes your co-owner

Help to Buy opened for applications on 5 December 2025. It is a shared equity scheme: the government contributes up to 40% of the price of a new home or 30% of an existing home, and you buy the rest with a deposit as small as 2%. Because the government owns a share, your loan is much smaller, and so are your repayments. You can buy back the government's share over time.

Unlike the 5% Deposit Scheme, Help to Buy has income caps. For the 2026-27 financial year they are $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for joint applicants and single parents, with 10,000 places released for the year. Caps, places and property price limits change each financial year, so check Housing Australia for the current numbers.

First Home Super Saver Scheme: save inside super

The FHSS lets you make voluntary contributions into your super fund, then pull them back out for a first home deposit. You can release up to $15,000 of contributions from any one financial year, up to $50,000 in total, plus the earnings on them. Salary sacrifice and personal deductible contributions get concessional tax treatment on the way in, which, depending on your income and marginal tax rate, can leave you with more than saving the same money in a regular bank account. Check the ATO's FHSS guidance to see how it works for your situation. After-tax contributions come back out tax free.

Two rules trip people up: only voluntary contributions count (your employer's compulsory super does not), and you must apply for the release before you sign a contract. You also need to intend to live in the home for at least six of the first twelve months.

State grants and stamp duty concessions

On top of the federal schemes, your state or territory offers its own help, in two flavours.

The First Home Owner Grant

The FHOG is a one-off, non-means-tested payment. The catch: in every state that still offers it, the grant is for new homes only, meaning a home that has never been lived in or sold as a residence, including substantially renovated ones. As of July 2026 the amounts are $10,000 in NSW, Victoria and WA, $15,000 in SA, $20,000 in Tasmania, $30,000 in Queensland and $50,000 in the Northern Territory (the HomeGrown Territory grant). The ACT no longer has a grant; it offers duty relief instead. Most states apply a property value cap, though SA and the NT do not. Amounts change often (Tasmania's grant has changed three times in three years), so always confirm with your state revenue office.

Stamp duty relief

Every state and the ACT gives first home buyers some form of transfer duty relief; the NT's support is grant-based instead. Highlights as of July 2026:

• ACT: from 1 July 2026, no stamp duty for eligible first home buyers at any price or income.
• Queensland: new homes are duty free with no price cap; established homes pay nothing under $700,000.
• SA: full relief with no value cap, but only for new homes, off-the-plan purchases and land to build on.
• NSW: full exemption up to $800,000 (new or established), with concessions to under $1 million.
• Victoria: exemption up to $600,000, tapered concession to $750,000.
• Tasmania: the popular established-home exemption ended for settlements after 30 June 2026.
• WA: no duty up to $500,000 with concessions above that, and further increases announced in the 2026-27 budget.

How much deposit does a first home buyer need?

The honest answer in 2026: less than most people think. The old rule of thumb said you needed 20% of the purchase price to avoid Lenders Mortgage Insurance. On a $700,000 home that is $140,000, which takes most people many years to save. The government schemes exist precisely to shortcut that wait:

• 5% deposit under the 5% Deposit Scheme, with no LMI.
• 2% deposit for single parents and legal guardians under the same scheme, or for anyone eligible under Help to Buy.
• 20% deposit if you buy outside the schemes and want to avoid LMI the traditional way.

A smaller deposit means a bigger loan and higher repayments, so the deposit size that suits you depends on your income, your buffer and how prices are moving in your area. Remember that the deposit is not the whole upfront bill: budget for conveyancing, building and pest inspections, loan fees, moving costs, and stamp duty if your purchase does not qualify for relief. Lenders also differ on whether a First Home Owner Grant can count towards your deposit, so ask before you rely on it.

Knowing your borrowing power turns a vague dream into a concrete savings target. Byrz offers free tools that build your loan profile, give you a borrowing estimate, and connect you with a broker when you are ready to go further.

The first home buying journey, start to finish

Every purchase follows roughly the same arc. Here is the short version, so you can see the whole road before you take the first step.

1. Work out your numbers. Estimate your borrowing power, set a savings target and check which schemes you qualify for.
2. Save the deposit. Combine regular savings with the FHSS if it suits you, and keep your spending clean, because lenders read your statements.
3. Get pre-approval. A lender or broker assesses your finances and tells you how much they will lend, which lets you shop with confidence.
4. Research and inspect. Narrow your suburbs, watch actual sale prices, and inspect more homes than feels necessary. Your first few inspections train your eye.
5. Make an offer or bid at auction. Private sales usually allow a cooling-off period; auctions do not.
6. Exchange contracts and do your checks. A conveyancer or solicitor reviews the contract, and building and pest inspections happen now.
7. Settle and move in. The lender hands over the money, the keys become yours, and any grant residence requirements start ticking, so plan to move in within 12 months.

Each of these steps has its own depth, especially the finance and contract stages. The point of the overview is the sequence: sort your money first, look at property second. Buyers who do it in that order negotiate from strength, because they know exactly what they can afford before they fall in love with a house.

Common first home buyer mistakes to avoid

First-timers tend to make the same handful of mistakes. All of them are avoidable once you know they exist.

• Trusting outdated information. The rules changed dramatically in October 2025 (the 5% Deposit Scheme expansion) and again in mid-2026 (ACT duty abolished, Tasmania's established-home exemption ended). An article from early 2025 will mislead you. Check publication dates, and confirm figures with official sources.
• Assuming one definition of first home buyer. You might fail a state's never-owned test yet still qualify federally under the 10-year rule. Check every scheme separately.
• Waiting to save 20% out of habit. Some buyers keep renting for years to dodge LMI when a scheme would have let them buy with 5% and no LMI at all. Compare both paths before defaulting to the long one.
• Forgetting costs beyond the deposit. Conveyancing, inspections, loan fees and moving costs all land on top. Budget for them from the start.
• Borrowing the absolute maximum. A loan that only works if nothing ever goes wrong is a loan that will eventually hurt. Leave a buffer for rate rises and life.
• Skipping building and pest inspections. A few hundred dollars now can save you from a six-figure repair bill later.
• Breaching residence requirements. Grants and duty concessions usually require you to move in within 12 months and stay for a set period. Break that and you may have to pay the money back.

Frequently asked questions