The complete first home buyer process — for your state
Grants, stamp duty savings, concessions and the 5% deposit scheme all work differently depending on where you buy. Pick your state or territory and we'll walk you through the whole journey, step by step.
Step 1 — choose your state or territory
Each guide covers your grant, your stamp duty concession thresholds, your 5% deposit scheme price caps, and a worked example of the cash you'd need on a typical local purchase.
New South Wales
Stamp duty free up to $800,000, concessions to $1m, and a $1.5m 5% deposit scheme cap in Sydney.
- Grant
- $10,000
- 5% cap (Sydney)
- $1,500,000
Victoria
Duty free to $600,000, concessions to $750,000, and a $950,000 5% deposit cap in Melbourne & Geelong.
- Grant
- $10,000
- 5% cap (Melbourne)
- $950,000
Queensland
The country's biggest new-home grant (up to $30,000) plus generous first home duty concessions.
- Grant
- Up to $30,000
- 5% cap (Brisbane)
- $1,000,000
Western Australia
A $10,000 new-home grant, the first home owner rate of duty, and Keystart's low-deposit loans.
- Grant
- $10,000
- 5% cap (Perth)
- $850,000
South Australia
$15,000 grant plus stamp duty relief with no property value cap for eligible new builds.
- Grant
- $15,000
- 5% cap (Adelaide)
- $900,000
Tasmania
$10,000 new-home grant, duty concessions on established homes, and MyHome shared equity.
- Grant
- $10,000
- 5% cap (Hobart)
- $700,000
Australian Capital Territory
Income-tested Home Buyer Concession Scheme — $0 duty on any property type if you qualify.
- Grant
- No flat grant
- 5% cap (Canberra)
- $1,000,000
Northern Territory
$10,000 grant plus HomeGrown and build incentives on top of the federal 5% deposit scheme.
- Grant
- $10,000
- 5% cap (Darwin)
- $600,000
The 7-step first home buyer journey
This is the same for every state — only the grants, concessions and caps change. Your state guide fills in those numbers for you.
1. Work out your real budget
Start with borrowing power (what a lender will approve) and affordability (what you're comfortable repaying). Lenders assess your repayments at around 3% above the actual rate, so your genuine budget is usually lower than the headline number.
2. Add up the cash you actually need
Deposit is only part of it. You also need stamp duty (or the concession-adjusted amount), conveyancing, building and pest inspections, loan fees, and moving costs. Work backwards from your total savings to your real purchase price.
3. Confirm your grants and concessions
Grants, duty concessions and the 5% deposit scheme are assessed against your state's rules, property type and contract date. Getting this confirmed before you sign is the single biggest money-saver in the process.
4. Get pre-approval
A broker matches you to the lender whose policy fits your income type, deposit source and credit history, then arranges pre-approval — usually valid for 3 months. It's free and it tells you exactly what you can offer.
5. Search, inspect and negotiate
Check the property against your scheme price caps before you offer. At auction your deposit and finance must be ready — there's no cooling-off period. For private sale, negotiate a finance clause.
6. Sign, then unconditional approval
Once you have a signed contract, the lender orders a valuation and issues formal (unconditional) approval. Your broker manages the lender, and your conveyancer manages the contract.
7. Settlement and keys
Settlement is typically 30–60 days after contract. Your grant is usually paid at settlement through your lender or conveyancer, and duty is paid by your conveyancer. Then you move in — most schemes require you to live there for 6–12 months.
Run your own numbers
Not sure which grants you qualify for?
Book a free 15-minute chat and we'll confirm exactly what you're eligible for in your state — before you sign anything.