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The year to March 2025 saw a total of 125,036 first home buyer (FHB) loans issued. This was a 3.8 per cent increase from the preceding period, as reported in Money.com.au’s First Home Buyer Mortgage Insights report.
These figures are 9.1 per cent higher than the year to September 2023, amid the Reserve Bank’s rate hike cycle.
The boost in activity speaks to the concerted effort from governments to assist FHBs, such as First Home Owner Grants and stamp duty concessions, said Money.com.au’s property expert Victoria McGavin.
Owner-occupiers made up the vast majority (93.7 per cent) of loans in the year to March 2025, totalling 117,178.
However, this is a 31.5 per cent drop from the 171,067 reported in the year to September 2021 when interest rates were at record lows.
Owner-occupier loans are 37 per cent higher than the year to September 2023, totalling 107,593.
On the investor front, there were 7,859 loans issued in the year to March 2025. While this is just 6.3 per cent of the total, Money.com.au anticipates the share to reach 10 per cent in the next decade if trends continue.
Alongside the increased loan activity was a boost in loan sizes. The average loan size has hit $538,342 nationally. This is a 5.8 per cent increase over the past year.
Regional trends
As mentioned by McGavin, attention from governments is helping increase activity. Further to this, borrower trends are helping drive growth in certain markets.
Queensland, for example, was the only major state to record an increase in its growth rate, climbing from 6.5 per cent to 6.9 per cent year on year.
This was attributed to a number of factors, including affordability, interstate migration, and stronger buyer confidence.
Victoria was the top state for first home buyer activity, with an annual increase of 7.6 per cent. This speaks to the affordability of property in the state.
NSW, on the other hand, saw the largest portion of FHBs becoming investors, speaking to the affordability challenges across the state.
NSW borrowers are turning to rentvesting as it becomes harder to buy where they want to live.
Queensland has now overtaken Victoria in having the second-highest average owner-occupier loan size for first home buyers, at $524,169 compared to Victoria’s $517,930. This represents an 11.7 per cent increase over the year.
Western Australia also recorded a strong jump in average owner-occupier loan size, rising 14.1 per cent, from $429,362 to $489,894.
[Related: Rent growth subdued by lower tenant demand]
