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A few tweaks to a popular first home buyer scheme has driven a “surge” in Gen Zs buying their first home. And it’s not the only upside giving first home buyers a boost now. The expansion of the popular 5% Deposit Scheme, combined with recent changes to rules for property investors, may be opening doors for young home buyers. The scheme, which lets first home buyers get started with as little as 5% deposit, or 2% for single parents, is now open to all first home buyers – with

It was great while it lasted, but the rate cut party is well and truly over. Today we look at how you could potentially reduce your home loan interest rate without relying on the Reserve Bank. A string of rate hikes this year has pushed the cash rate back up to 4.35% – exactly where it was at the start of 2025. Except this time, there are no rate cuts on the horizon. These rising interest rates are squeezing many household budgets. But you don’t have to just resign yourself t

Reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax have been unveiled in the latest national budget. Here’s what they could mean for investors, first home buyers and home owners. The Albanese Government has tabled its budget for 2026-27, and tax reforms for property investors are top of the agenda. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says these reforms are all about getting more Australians into a first home of their own. But, as with any federal budget, there are winners and losers. We br

The hits just keep coming for mortgage holders, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today raising the cash rate for a third time this year to 4.35%. If you’re starting to struggle with your mortgage repayments, here’s how you can potentially take action. Today’s 0.25% cash rate increase brings us in line with the 2024 cash rate peak of 4.35% – which was the highest it had climbed to since December 2011. The RBA’s Monetary Policy Board said in a statement that the conflic

There’s no better feeling than living in a brand new home – it’s fresh, clean and it’s all yours. But financing a new-build works very differently from buying an established home. Here’s what you need to know. There’s a lot to love about home ownership, and it’s especially exciting when you’re building a place of your own from scratch. You have the freedom to select your preferred design, personalise the finishes, and then watch as your new home steadily comes to life from th

Having loan pre-approval can be a smart move for home buyers. But the recent Reserve Bank cash rate hikes could leave your pre-approval in need of an update. There’s a lot to love about home loan pre-approval. It shows how much a bank will let you borrow for a home – that’s your ‘borrowing power’. Pre-approval also indicates you’re a serious buyer, providing extra bargaining clout in price negotiations. And while pre-approval typically only lasts for three to six months, that

Rate hikes and soaring fuel prices aren’t dampening home buyer enthusiasm, with a strong majority of Aussies still believing the time to buy is now. We look at why home-buying sentiment remains so high. Petrol prices have been stealing the headlines lately. But behind the scenes, Aussie homes have been notching up fresh gains. Over the past year, home values rose 9.9% nationally – the fastest 12-month growth since June 2022. And despite the current fuel crisis and two rate

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Maybe. Australia has seen a surge of investor activity in recent years, with investment loans reaching record highs. But as home prices rise, plenty of investors are looking beyond their own backyard and making interstate purchases. Australian homes have delivered plenty of pluses for investors in recent years . Vacancy rates are low and rents are rising across much of the country. Strong price growth has seen more than 93% o

Buying a first home doesn’t have to mean years of eating beans on toast while you scrape together a 20% deposit. Here’s how you could break into the property market with just a 5% deposit. The Australian government’s 5% Deposit Scheme has been around since 2020, and in that time it’s been a game-changer for more than 300,000 first home buyers . That’s because the scheme offers a chance to buy a first home with a 5% deposit – or as little as 2% for single parents. The scheme

If you’re in the market for a home, you may have noticed there hasn’t always been a whole lot of choice in recent months. Fortunately, it looks like property listings are really starting to pick back up. Here’s how to make the most of the increase in choice. Sure, price is the obvious big barrier when it comes buying your first home. But that’s often got a whole lot to do with a lack of supply (less supply than demand typically = higher prices). And in fact, Westpac says supp

More bad news for mortgage holders around the country: the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) today raised the cash rate for the second time this year to 4.10% in a 5-4 split decision vote. How might this impact your monthly mortgage repayments?  Hardly seems fair to hike the cash rate by another 0.25% with petrol prices so high right now (which one could argue will reduce discretionary spending) – but it wasn’t enough to sway the majority of the RBA board, unfortunately, which

Who wouldn’t want to save on home loan interest and pay off their mortgage faster? Homeowners are increasingly turning to offset accounts to do just that. So today we’ll look into whether an offset account could benefit you. The recent RBA cash rate hike has led homeowners to embrace a variety of strategies to ease the rate pain, and it turns out one of the most popular options is a home loan offset account. One of the big 4 banks, NAB, says it is seeing “ offset accounts sur