NHFIC releases first research report on the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme

Key insights from the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme Trends & Insights report, which covers the six months to 30 June, include:

• One in eight of all first home buyers accessed the Scheme, based on available settlement data.
• Key workers accounted for more than 1,800 (one in six) first home buyers using the Scheme, with teachers the largest group (37 per cent of the key worker cohort), followed by nurses (25 per cent).
• Major cities attracted 62.3 per cent of buyers under the Scheme while 37.7 per cent purchased in regional areas.
• More than half of the homes purchased in capital cities were between 15 and 30 kilometres from the CBD, with couple applicants typically buying further away from the CBD than singles.
• First home buyers moved an average of 7.6 kilometres from their existing residence. Victorian purchasers moved the greatest distance at 10.4 kilometres from their existing home.
• Almost 70 per cent of buyers using the Scheme purchased a detached house, with 25 per cent buying an apartment and 5 per cent purchasing a townhouse.
• The median purchase price for houses was $385,000 compared with $475,000 for apartments (most apartments purchased were in capital cities).
• Half of Scheme guarantees were issued to single buyers with taxable incomes of $60,000 to $80,000. Couples were concentrated in the $90,000 to $125,000 earnings bracket.
• Of the 10,000 places released for the six months to 30 June, more than half of the homes had settled (54.7 per cent). Another 13.4 per cent of Scheme applicants had signed contracts to purchase a home, and 31.9 per cent had been pre-approved and were looking to buy.
• Based on NHFIC’s analysis, the Scheme enabled first home buyers without alternative financial means to bring forward their purchase by an average of four years.

NHFIC CEO Nathan Dal Bon said analysis of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme’s first six months of operation found the Scheme had broad appeal.

“Demand for the Scheme in the six months to 30 June continued despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Dal Bon said. “First time buyers across age and income spectrums around the country accessed the Scheme, and we saw strong interest from buyers in outer metropolitan and regional areas.”

Mr Dal Bon noted that the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme Trends & Insights report is part of a series of short targeted reports from NHFIC’s new research unit.

NHFIC intends to provide an annual update on the operation of the Scheme following the end of each financial year. This new report follows NHFIC’s research publication Building Jobs: How Residential Construction Drives the Economy, which was released in late June.