1 week Ago By Nathan Mawby
19 Crossway Ave, Tarneit, has a first-home buyer friendly $690,000-$720,000 asking price — in the nation’s top postcode for those making a start in the property market. Victoria has cemented its spot as Australia’s first-home buyer hotspot, with almost 10,000 market entrants here using the Australian Home Guarantee Schemes in the past financial year. Postcodes for Hoppers Crossing, Craigieburn and Clyde were the strongest in the nation, and other areas have also been buoyed as buyers priced out of the market as far back as 2021 revive their home dream, amid poor home value growth in some suburbs.
The 9950 Victorians to use the scheme accounts for a whopping 28 per cent of all people using it in the past financial year, significant given the state only accounts for 26 per cent of Australia’s population. RELATED: 10 first-home buyers fight for the same home Melbourne Housing affordability: Where homebuyers can buy a house with a $50k deposit Home-saving hacks could score Gen Z $500,000 in 10 years and save the Australian dream The program — under which the federal government guarantees home loans for buyers with deposits as low as 5 per cent — is the only national support scheme to help those actively buying a first home. A co-buying scheme promised by the Albanese government ahead of the last election is yet to pass through parliament.
Nationwide, it helped a third of all Australian first-home buyers in the past financial year with 43,800 places taken up, according to Housing Australia’s Home Guarantee Scheme Trends and Insights Report released on Monday. In Melbourne and major cities like Geelong the scheme is capped for purchases up to $800,000, while the rest of the state has a $650,000 threshold. In addition to the 9950 Victorians to use the First Home Guarantee or the Regional First Home Guarantee, a further 150 accessed the Family Home Guarantee, which supports single parents to buy a home.
Postcode 3029, which includes Hoppers Crossing and Tarneit, covers an extensive tranche of Melbourne’s new housing estates – and has long been on first-home buyers’ radar. The report shows Victoria is home to five of Australia’s top postcodes for the scheme. Hoppers Crossing, postcode 3029, was the national leader with 617 guarantees issued.
It was followed by Craigieburn, 3064, where 485 people had home loans backed by the federal government, and Cardinia, 3978, which had 371 people use the scheme. Werribee, with the postcode 3030, and Botanic Ridge in the south east, 3977, were ranked fifth and sixth nationwide. PropTrack economist Paul Ryan said a big part of Victoria’s success was relatively higher housing construction compared to other parts of the country.
And with more homes available, it’s helping to keep home prices flat or even record declines in the past year or so — a sign that the nation could build its way out of a housing affordability crisis. Homes like 2 Deborah St, Werribee, come with first-home buyer friendly price tags as low as $530,000. Mr Ryan said it was also possibly a sign that Victorian market entrants had been better able to stack the federal offer of a 5 per cent deposit with the state government’s stamp duty concession program and its $10k First Home Owner Grant to build a new property.
Property Home Base buyers agency founding director Julie DeBondt-Barker said while most first-home buyers were looking to escape the rental trap, some had been priced back into the market, after values pushed past their reach in 2021 and a few were looking to relocate from Sydney for affordability. However, Ms DeBondt-Barker warned many were increasingly worried about a rise in interest rates which they feared would rapidly increase home values. “I have buyers saying they have seen the US is bringing their cash rate down, and they are now trying to get in before Christmas,” she said.
“And they almost have free rein, because so many investors have gotten out of Victoria. Anything under $1m, it’s mostly first-home buyers.” 37 Bowler Ave, Clyde, is up for grabs at $599,000-$649,000 in one of the state’s top spots for first-home buyers.
Housing Australia home ownership chief program officer Jennifer Chew said the strength of the program was also demonstrated by the “number of participants that have transitioned out of the scheme due to equity built up”. Figures in the report show 19,000 past users of the scheme that has operated since 2020 no longer need the government to guarantee their loan, with many reaching 20 per cent equity stake due to rising home values or paying down their mortgage. Real Estate Buyers Agents Association of Australia president Melinda Jennison said the number of first-home buyers who had used the scheme but no longer required a government guarantor as the properties value had risen so much showed how important the scheme was.
“In a rising market, the opportunity cost of trying to save at the same time the market is rapidly rising ...
it becomes prohibitive,” Ms Jennison said. Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit (3029) – 617 Craigieburn, Roxburgh Park (3064) – 485 Cardinia, Clyde (3978) – 371 Werribee, Point Cook (3030) – 296 Cranbourne (3977) – 293 Pakenham (3810) – 219 Mambourin, Wyndham Vale (3024) – 205 Armstrong Creek, Mt Duneed (3217) – 194 Melton, Eynesbury (3338) – 182 Wollert (3750) – 160 Source: Housing Australia Home Guarantee Scheme Trends and Insights report FY 2023-2024 Sign up to the Herald Sun Weekly Real Estate Update. Click here to get the latest Victorian property market news delivered direct to your inbox.
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