FHB Lending Stalled
New lending figures show only a 0.2% increase in loans to FHB in the past year.
Money.com.au’s First Home Buyer Mortgage Insights report says there were 123,363 loans to first home buyers in the 12 months to June 2025.
This means FHB activity is 31.7% below its September 2021 peak – a time of historically low interest rates.
The average new FHB loan is now $546,315, which is about $154,000 less than the average non-FHB loan.
Money.com.au property expert Debbie Hays says Queensland and Victoria are the only major states to experience an increase in lending to FHB.
FHB lending activity is up 5% in Queensland and 4% in Victoria in the past 12 months. Western Australia is down -8%, New South Wales is down -4% and South Australia is down -1%.
Hays says Victoria has the highest number of FHBs, as it has the smallest average loan size among the Eastern states.
Hays believes lending to FHB may rebound toward the end of the year as the expansion of the First Home Guarantee scheme takes hold.
“The schemeʼs expansion will likely boost demand and support continued growth in the first home buyer segment in the short term. But as more first home buyers rush to take advantage of it, competition will intensify,” she says.
