Finance
Rates, thresholds, grant amounts, LVR/LMI rules and duty scales behind the Preparing Financially guides and calculators. Every figure is drawn from this graph of claims, each traced to a specific, actually-fetched government or regulator source. This page is generated directly from that graph, not maintained separately from it. See the full knowledge base for other subjects.
How this works
Delora fetches primary sources — government departments, regulators and authoritative registers — archives them with a content hash, and extracts specific, citable claims from them. Guide pages and tools read from these claims rather than having figures typed directly into prose, so every figure a reader sees links back to where it came from and when it was last verified. A monitor re-fetches each source and flags genuine content changes for review — nothing is republished automatically.
Source catalogue (30 sources)
Every source in this subject, grouped by issuing authority.
ASIC (Moneysmart)
ASIC Moneysmart
Arro Lawyers (legal practice commentary)
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Australian Taxation Office
Consumer Affairs Victoria
Foreign Investment Review Board / Australian Government
Housing Australia
Housing Australia / Australian Government
Maddocks Lawyers (legal practice commentary)
National Debt Helpline (funded by state/territory governments)
Reserve Bank of Australia
State Revenue Office Victoria
Active claims (43)
Every claim in this subject currently powering a guide, with its confidence and last verification date.
From 1 February 2026, APRA limits authorised deposit-taking institutions to writing no more than 20% of new owner-occupied lending, and no more than 20% of new investment lending (measured separately, quarterly), at a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio of 6 times or more of a borrower's before-tax income. This is a lender-portfolio limit, not a per-applicant cap -- excludes owner-occupier bridging loans and loans for the construction of new homes.
APRA expects every authorised deposit-taking institution (bank, building society or credit union) to assess a new home-loan applicant's ability to repay at an interest rate at least 3.0 percentage points above the loan's actual rate -- the mortgage serviceability buffer, raised from 2.5 percentage points in October 2021.
The 5% Deposit Scheme's first-home-buyer stream requires a minimum 5% deposit.
From 1 October 2025, the 5% Deposit Scheme has no income caps or waitlists for eligible applicants.
The 5% Deposit Scheme's first-home-buyer stream requires not having owned a home or land in Australia in the last 10 years.
The 5% Deposit Scheme's single-parent/legal-guardian stream requires a minimum 2% deposit.
Arrangements outside the standard deposit-plus-mortgage path — including shared equity with a non-government provider, deposit-deferral or seller-assisted purchase arrangements, and rent-to-buy home schemes — are not government schemes, are not standardised the same way a mainstream home loan is, and terms vary significantly between providers. Consistent with Moneysmart's own guidance to get independent advice before signing any guarantee or non-standard arrangement, and its explicit warning that rent-to-buy home schemes may target buyers ineligible for a standard loan, buyers considering any such arrangement should get independent legal and financial advice before signing, and confirm in writing what happens to any money already paid if the arrangement doesn't complete.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme allows up to $15,000 of voluntary super contributions per financial year to be eligible for release.
Under the First Home Super Saver Scheme, an individual can make up to $15,000 in voluntary super contributions per financial year, up to $50,000 in total, and withdraw those contributions plus associated earnings (as determined by the ATO) to put towards a first home deposit. Minimum age to apply is 18. Couples, friends or siblings can each access their own FHSS savings toward the same property.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme's minimum age to apply is 18.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme allows up to $50,000 of voluntary super contributions in total to be eligible for release.
In a guarantor arrangement, a guarantor (commonly a parent or close family member) uses equity in their own property as security for part of your home loan, which can remove the need to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance. The guarantor takes on real financial risk: if the borrower can't make repayments, the guarantor may have to repay the loan and the lender may be able to sell the guarantor's property. Moneysmart recommends everyone involved gets independent legal advice before agreeing, and understands exactly when and how the guarantee can end.
Help to Buy requires a minimum 2% deposit from the buyer.
For FY2026, Help to Buy's income threshold for an individual applicant is $103,000 annual taxable income.
For FY2026, Help to Buy's income threshold for joint applicants or a single parent is $165,000 annual taxable income.
Help to Buy releases a limited number of places each year (10,000 for FY2026) and price caps apply by location.
Buying with a partner, family member or friend can increase buying power by combining incomes and savings, but Moneysmart recommends agreeing in advance, and ideally in a separate legal agreement, on ownership shares, how ongoing costs are split, and how decisions (including an eventual sale or one party wanting to exit) will be made.
ASIC's Moneysmart explicitly distinguishes everyday consumer-goods rent-to-buy from rent-to-buy home-ownership schemes, describing the latter as high risk and noting they may target people who are not eligible for a standard home loan.
ASIC's Moneysmart groups the realistic ways to buy a home with a limited deposit into a small number of categories: government deposit-assistance schemes, grants and duty concessions, shared-equity arrangements (another party contributes toward the purchase price in exchange for a share of the property), guarantor arrangements (a family member secures part of the loan with their own property), and joint purchase with a partner, family member or friend.
A Victorian off-the-plan contract of sale requires a deposit of no more than 10% of the contract price, and must contain a warning notice covering the deposit negotiation, the time that may pass before the buyer owns the property, and the possibility the property's value changes in that time.
Victoria's off-the-plan land transfer duty exemption/concession (available since 1 July 2017 only for a principal place of residence, or for first home buyers) applies: full exemption for first home buyers with a dutiable value of $600,000 or less; a concession for first home buyers with a dutiable value between $600,001 and $750,000; and a concession for any principal-place-of-residence buyer with a dutiable value of $550,000 or less. The concession amount depends on how advanced construction is when the contract is signed.
If an off-the-plan buyer's plan of subdivision is not registered by the time specified in the contract, or by the default time of 18 months, the buyer has the right to end the contract and get their deposit back.
The National Debt Helpline provides free, independent, confidential financial counselling to people in Australia experiencing financial difficulty, including help negotiating with lenders about hardship arrangements.
From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign persons (including temporary residents and foreign-owned companies) are generally prohibited from purchasing established dwellings in Australia, with limited exceptions (for example, redevelopment that significantly increases housing supply). Buying new or near-new dwellings, or vacant residential land for development, generally still requires FIRB approval and notification to the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets.
Buy now pay later (BNPL) services are a form of credit; using them regularly, or having several open at once, can appear on some lenders' assessments of your existing debts and spending patterns when you apply for a home loan.
Mortgage brokers in Australia must act in the customer's best interests when recommending a home loan.
A home loan comparison rate is a single figure representing the cost of the loan, combining the interest rate and most fees, intended to let borrowers compare the true cost of loans with different rate/fee combinations. Key features to compare: interest rate, comparison rate, monthly repayment, application (establishment) fee, ongoing fees, loan term, and loan features such as offset, redraw or line of credit (and their own fees).
Australians have the right to a free copy of their credit report every 3 months, from each of the main credit reporting bodies.
If a buyer's Loan-to-Value Ratio (LVR) is above 80%, lenders may require Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), a one-off fee that protects the lender (not the buyer or guarantor) if the loan cannot be repaid.
Self-employed home loan applicants are commonly asked to provide more extensive financial evidence than employees, such as multiple years of tax returns and business financial statements, to help lenders assess income stability.
The RBA cash rate target averaged 4.35% for June 2026, per the RBA's F1.1 statistical table.
The average outstanding variable interest rate on owner-occupier housing loans (all lenders) was 6.2% per annum, as at 31 May 2026.
Victorian general (non-PPR, and PPR properties above $550,000) land transfer duty: $0-$25,000: 1.4%; $25,000-$130,000: $350 + 2.4% of excess over $25,000; $130,000-$960,000: $2,870 + 6% of excess over $130,000; $960,000-$2,000,000: 5.5% of dutiable value; above $2,000,000: $110,000 + 6.5% of excess over $2,000,000.
Victorian principal-place-of-residence land transfer duty (contracts from 6 May 2008): $0-$25,000: 1.4%; $25,000-$130,000: $350 + 2.4% of excess over $25,000; $130,000-$440,000: $2,870 + 5% of excess over $130,000; $440,000-$550,000: $18,370 + 6% of excess over $440,000; above $550,000 the PPR concessional rate does not apply and the general rate scale is used instead.
Eligible first-home buyers pay a reduced (concessional) rate of Victorian land-transfer duty on a home with a dutiable value from $600,001 to $750,000.
Eligible first-home buyers pay no Victorian land-transfer duty on a home with a dutiable value up to $600,000.
To keep the Victorian first-home buyer duty exemption or concession, at least one purchaser must occupy the home as their principal place of residence for 12 continuous months, starting within 12 months of settlement.
The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for eligible first-home buyers purchasing or building a new (newly constructed or never previously occupied) home valued up to $750,000.
Foreign purchasers of residential property in Victoria pay an additional 8% duty surcharge (on top of standard land transfer duty) for contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2019.
Victoria's temporary off-the-plan land transfer duty concession for eligible strata apartment and townhouse purchases has been extended to 21 April 2027 (pending legislation for the most recent extension announced in the 2026-27 Victorian Budget).
An off-the-plan deposit should be held in a genuine trust account for the construction period, not released early to the developer; if the deposit isn't properly held in trust and the developer becomes insolvent before settlement, the buyer risks losing it.
The Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic) was amended, effective 23 August 2018, to limit a vendor's ability to rescind a residential off-the-plan contract under a sunset clause. The vendor must give the purchaser at least 28 days' written notice setting out the reason for the proposed rescission and the reason for the registration/occupancy-permit delay, and obtain the purchaser's written consent. Without consent, the vendor may apply to the Supreme Court, which may allow rescission only if just and equitable, weighing factors including whether the vendor acted unreasonably or in bad faith.
Superseded claims
Kept for history rather than deleted — the bitemporal record shows what Delora previously stated and when it was superseded, not just the current figure.
The First Home Super Saver Scheme allows eligible people to withdraw certain voluntary superannuation contributions to help fund a first-home deposit, subject to ATO-administered contribution and release rules.
Change log
Real output from Delora's source-monitoring pipeline for this subject's sources — content changes flagged for human review, not auto-published.
About the entries below: these were flagged by an early version of Delora's monitor, which hashed raw page bytes and was fooled by cache-busting parameters and ad/tracking snippets that change on every request with no real content change. The monitor was fixed to hash cleaned page text instead, and a re-run confirmed these were false positives — shown here rather than deleted, because a change log that hides its own mistakes isn't trustworthy.
This catalogue reflects Delora's own knowledge graph as of the date shown against each source, not a live feed of the original agency's site. If a figure here looks out of date, the linked official source is always the authority — please let us know.