Despite high interest rates and cost of living pressures, first-home buyers are still getting into the market – with a little help along the way.

New figures show almost 100,000 first-home buyers have used the First Home Guarantee or the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee to purchase a property since 2020. The scheme allows first-home buyers to purchase with a deposit of just 5% of the home’s value, with the government providing a guarantee to the lender instead of the buyer paying lenders’ mortgage insurance.

Housing Australia figures show in the 2024 financial year, 36,100 guarantees were provided to first-home buyers, which accounts for about a third of the 115,000 total first-home buyer loans written that year. Nationally, the average first-home buyer loan is $536,561, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) Housing Affordability Report.

REIA President Leanne Pilkington says this is 0.8% higher in the past quarter and 6.7 % higher than 12 months ago.