New detailed first homebuyer data insights – collaboration with CBA and NAB

The research analyses first homebuyer data from the Scheme since its inception in January 2020 relative to CBA and NAB’s broader first homebuyer portfolio.

Some of the key insights include:

• The HGS has supported proportionally more single female buyers (54%) relative to the first homebuyer market (46%).
• 84% of buyers who purchased a home [with a deposit as little as 2%] under the Family Home Guarantee (FHG) were single women with dependent children.
• The HGS supports Australians earning a more modest income, with median household salaries of $84,000 relative to the broader first homebuyer market of $95,000.
• Buyers under the HGS have been helped to overcome the deposit hurdle to purchase their home with deposits for HGS participants typically less than a third of first homebuyer’s deposits ($34,000 and $122,000 respectively). 
• 28.1% of HGS participants’ income was used for mortgage repayments for their new home (on average), compared with 31.6% of their income previously contributing to rent. Around half the costs that were previously paid as rent are now mortgage principal payments, representing genuine savings in the form of home equity.
• The HGS has assisted homebuyers with low levels of savings and modest incomes to build assets over time, through capital appreciation and paying down their mortgage. Under the HGS, some participants have built up considerable equity, with those entering in early 2020 having on average up to 26% additional equity in their home.
• HGS participants spent an average of $290 per transaction on construction (home improvements), compared with $530 at the time of purchase, and $450 per transaction in the two years after the home was purchased.

Support for homebuyers has been expanded with five new non-major lenders offering the HGS from last month (July). This brings the number of lenders offering the Scheme to 32, providing more choice to eligible homebuyers.

As part of its election commitments, the Government will introduce the new Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme for first homebuyers in regional Australia and the Help to Buy shared equity scheme which will support those on lower incomes struggling to buy a home.

Given the expanded support for first homebuyers under the new Government, NHFIC will continue to work with major lenders to periodically update this research and report other insights into the broader first homebuyer market.

For more information on the Scheme visit nhfic.gov.au

Note to editors

The purpose of the HGS is to facilitate eligible first home buyers entering into the housing market sooner. It does this by allowing NHFIC to issue guarantees each financial year for loans to first home buyers with a deposit of between 5 and 20 per cent of the property’s value, and for the Family Home Guarantee to eligible single parents with a deposit of between 2 and 20 per cent of the property’s value.

From 1 July 2022, the number of places available through the First Home Guarantee increased from 10,000 to 35,000 per financial year, while the Family Home Guarantee will have an annual allocation of 5,000 places from 1 July 2022 until 30 June 2025.  

Disclaimer  

These results are subject to change as rents, house prices, interest rates and incomes fluctuate in the future. NHFIC will continue to work with its major bank lending panel partners on tracking these first home buyer cohorts over time and will release further data insights periodically.

Read the analysis here.