First Home

Before “how much can I borrow”, start with what you can comfortably spend each month, what deposit or cash you actually have available, and what debts or credit limits already exist. Maximum borrowing capacity is a lender question for later, starting there tends to anchor you to the wrong number.

Tool: the Repayments & rate shock calculator in the Calculator Lab shows what a given loan amount actually costs monthly, and what happens if rates rise.

“Deposit” is really four separate questions: how much cash do you have, where did it come from, how long has it been available, and how much needs to stay aside for purchase costs rather than the deposit itself? Saved funds, gifted funds, sale proceeds, government scheme deposits, existing equity and First Home Super Saver releases can all form part of the answer, and lenders don’t always treat them the same way.

Some lenders and products apply a genuine-savings requirement, especially at higher LVRs. What counts, the amount required and the history or evidence needed can differ by lender. A government scheme’s minimum deposit requirement is not automatically the same thing as every lender’s genuine-savings policy, see Genuine savings in the Loan Feature Explorer.

The scheme uses a government guarantee to help eligible buyers purchase with a lower deposit without paying Lenders Mortgage Insurance, under current scheme conditions. First-home and Single Parent streams can differ, property price limits and eligibility criteria can change, and participating-lender credit criteria still apply on top of scheme eligibility, the guarantee is not a cash payment to the borrower.

Because price caps and eligibility rules change, this page deliberately doesn’t hardcode them. Check current eligibility on the official Housing Australia site before relying on any figure you’ve seen elsewhere, including on this page.

Voluntary superannuation contributions may be releasable toward a first home under the ATO’s First Home Super Saver scheme. Current annual and overall release limits, and the determination and release timing, are set by the ATO and can change, this is tax and superannuation territory, so check the official ATO page rather than relying on a secondhand summary, and speak with a tax adviser about your own position.

Stamp duty concessions, grants and other government support differ by state or territory and can change. Use Government Support to open the official government source for your location. If you use Funds Position, enter only government charges or support you have confirmed for your transaction.

A grant and a duty concession are different forms of support. Whether either or both can apply depends on the jurisdiction, property and transaction. Confirm them separately on the official government source:

Open Government Support and official links

Loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is your loan amount as a percentage of the property’s value. It can affect pricing, whether LMI applies, lender policy, and eligibility for some schemes. See LVR in the Loan Feature Explorer, or use the Deposit & LVR calculator in the Calculator Lab to see where a given price, deposit and loan amount lands.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance protects the lender, not you, and is usually relevant to higher-LVR lending outside schemes or waivers. The premium varies by lender, insurer, LVR and loan amount and cannot be accurately estimated by one generic table, this site never publishes a universal LMI figure. It may be paid upfront or capitalised into the loan depending on the lender and product; capitalising increases your loan balance, your LVR and the interest you’ll pay over time. See LMI in the Loan Feature Explorer.

Borrowing capacity depends on income, living expenses, existing debts and credit limits, dependants, any existing property or rental income, the lender’s assessment rate and buffer, the loan term, and that lender’s own policy. Lenders do not all calculate this identically, so this site does not publish one “maximum capacity” figure as if they did.

Pre-approval gives you a working budget and signals to agents that you’re a credible buyer, but it isn’t a guarantee, it can expire or need reassessment, the specific property still has to be acceptable as security, your financial circumstances need to stay consistent, and conditions may still apply before final approval. See Pre-approval in the Loan Feature Explorer.

A mortgage broker is not a conveyancer or solicitor. Finance conditions and cooling-off rights vary by state, contract and negotiation, and the contract itself needs legal review by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer, this site does not provide legal advice, and neither should any broker.

Your purchase price is not automatically the same as the lender’s valuation of the property. A lower valuation can affect your LVR and the loan amount available, and certain property types (small apartments, off-the-plan, rural or unusual properties) can trigger extra restrictions. See Valuation in the Loan Feature Explorer.

Variable, fixed, split, offset, redraw, principal & interest, interest-only, rate lock, and the fees attached to each, every one of these choices interacts with the others. Explore each in the Loan Feature Explorer before deciding on a structure.

Once you have a property under contract, formal (unconditional) approval typically requires full documentation, a valuation of that specific property, and satisfaction of any conditions attached to your approval, this is a different, later step from pre-approval.

Settlement needs your conveyancer and lender coordinated, your funds position confirmed, government charges accounted for, and insurance in place where required. Use the Funds Position tool to combine the government figures you have confirmed with other purchase costs and your available funds before settlement day.

Once you’ve settled: set up your offset account if you have one, confirm your direct debits are correct, review your loan periodically rather than leaving it untouched for years, and keep your broker’s contact details on hand for when your circumstances or the market changes.

A construction loan works differently to a standard home loan, funds aren’t handed over as one lump sum, and interest is generally charged only on what’s actually been drawn so far.

New-home and off-the-plan purchases are also usually where the First Home Owner Grant and the fullest duty exemptions apply (see module 5), established homes are typically not eligible for the grant, even where they qualify for a duty concession.