In short: A Victorian first home buyer in 2026 can buy with as little as a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance under the First Home Guarantee, pay zero stamp duty on homes up to $600,000 (a concession to $750,000), and claim a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant on a new home up to $750,000. The process runs roughly 3 to 6 months from pre-approval to keys.
Buying your first home in Victoria has never involved more moving parts, or more help. Three separate schemes can shave tens of thousands off the cost of a Craigieburn or Wollert home, but each has its own rules, and lenders still assess you as if none of them existed. This guide walks the whole journey in order: what you need, what you'll pay, what the government gives back, and what happens each week from first conversation to settlement day.
What a first home costs in Melbourne's north
Before the schemes, look at the raw numbers. The table below uses three price points that reflect the northern growth corridor: a townhouse or older house around $500,000, a typical four-bedroom in Craigieburn or Mickleham around $650,000, and a larger established home in Greenvale or Sunbury around $800,000.
| Cost item | $500,000 | $650,000 | $800,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% deposit | $25,000 | $32,500 | $40,000 |
| 10% deposit | $50,000 | $65,000 | $80,000 |
| 20% deposit | $100,000 | $130,000 | $160,000 |
| Stamp duty (general owner-occupier) | $21,970 | $34,070 | $43,070 |
| Stamp duty (first home buyer) | $0 | approx. $11,357 | $43,070 |
| Conveyancing and searches | $1,200–$2,500 | $1,200–$2,500 | $1,200–$2,500 |
| Building and pest inspection | $400–$700 | $400–$700 | $400–$700 |
| Lender and government registration fees | $500–$1,500 | $500–$1,500 | $500–$1,500 |
Two things stand out. First, the deposit is only part of the cash you need; duty and fees can add more than the deposit itself at higher price points. Second, the first-home-buyer duty rules create a hard edge at $600,000 and a cliff at $750,000, which matters when you set a budget. Run your own figures through the upfront costs calculator and the stamp duty calculator before you fall in love with a listing.
The three schemes every Victorian first home buyer should know
First Home Guarantee: 5% deposit, no LMI
The federal Home Guarantee Scheme lets you buy with a 5% deposit while the government guarantees the portion of the loan above 80%, so you pay no lenders mortgage insurance. Since October 2025 there are no income caps and no limit on places. For Melbourne and Geelong the property price cap is $950,000; for the rest of Victoria it is $650,000. You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, at least 18, buying to live in, and not have owned property in Australia in the last 10 years. On a $650,000 Mickleham house-and-land package that saves indicatively $26,000 of LMI. Full detail in our First Home Guarantee guide, and you can test your eligibility with the First Home Guarantee eligibility calculator.
Stamp duty exemption and concession
Victoria exempts first home buyers from land transfer duty entirely on homes with a dutiable value up to $600,000, then phases the concession out between $600,001 and $750,000. You must live in the property as your principal place of residence for 12 months, starting within 12 months of settlement. On a $600,000 Roxburgh Park house that is a saving of $31,070. See stamp duty for first home buyers in Victoria.
First Home Owner Grant: $10,000 on a new home
The Victorian FHOG pays $10,000 when you buy or build a brand-new home (never previously occupied) valued up to $750,000. It is not available on established homes. You must move in within 12 months of settlement or completion and live there for 12 continuous months. Most buyers apply through their lender, and for a house-and-land build the grant is usually released at the first progress payment. Details in our First Home Owner Grant guide.
Help to Buy: the federal shared equity option
If your deposit is tiny but your income is modest, Help to Buy lets the government take an equity share of up to 40% in a new home (30% existing) so you need only a 2% deposit. Income caps are $100,000 for singles and $160,000 for couples, and the Victorian price cap is $950,000 at the time of writing. It suits fewer buyers than the guarantee but can be the difference between renting and owning. Read Help to Buy explained.
Stacking the schemes
You can combine them. A buyer of a new $620,000 Wollert townhouse who qualifies for everything could use the 5% guarantee (deposit $31,000, no LMI), claim the $10,000 grant, and pay only a modest duty concession rather than the $32,270 general figure. Help to Buy cannot be combined with the First Home Guarantee, because they solve the same problem in different ways.
Worked example: a $650,000 house-and-land package in Mickleham
Priya and Sam earn $95,000 and $78,000, rent in Epping, and have saved $48,000. They want a four-bedroom house-and-land package in Mickleham: land $300,000, build $350,000.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Purchase price (land + build) | $650,000 |
| Deposit at 5% under the First Home Guarantee | $32,500 |
| Loan amount | $617,500 |
| LMI | $0 (guaranteed) |
| Stamp duty | $0 (duty is assessed on the $300,000 land only, which is under the $600,000 exemption) |
| First Home Owner Grant | +$10,000 (new build, under $750,000) |
| Conveyancing, inspections, lender fees | approx. $3,500 |
| Cash needed at land settlement (deposit + costs, less grant timing) | approx. $36,000 |
| Repayments at 6.00% p.a. over 30 years (illustration) | approx. $3,703 per month once fully drawn |
Because the land and build are separate contracts, Priya and Sam pay duty on the land alone, and because the land is under $600,000 that duty is nil. Had they bought an established $650,000 house in Craigieburn, they would have paid approximately $11,357 in duty and no grant. The house-and-land route saved them over $21,000 in upfront cash, at the cost of a 9-month build during which they keep paying rent. That trade-off is covered in house and land versus established.
Step-by-step timeline: from first conversation to keys
Months 1 to 3: get finance-ready
Step 1. Work out your real budget. Lenders test your repayments at your rate plus 3 percentage points (the APRA buffer), so a loan that costs $3,703 a month at 6.00% is assessed as if it cost about $5,000. Use the borrowing power calculator for a first estimate, then talk to a broker who can run the numbers across different lenders' policies. Our guide on how to improve borrowing power lists the levers.
Step 2. Build genuine savings. Most lenders want to see 5% of the purchase price saved or held for at least 3 months in your own name. A gift from parents can top up the deposit but usually does not count as genuine savings on its own. Set up a dedicated account now and leave it alone. See genuine savings explained.
Step 3. Clean up your credit file. Get your free credit report, pay any small defaults, reduce credit card limits you do not use, and stop buy-now-pay-later accounts. Lenders read 24 months of repayment history. Our credit score guide explains what matters.
Step 4. Gather documents. ID, two payslips, three months of bank statements, your last ATO income statement, and evidence of any debts. Self-employed buyers need two years of tax returns. Use the home loan documents checklist.
Month 3 to 4: pre-approval
Step 5. Get a fully assessed pre-approval. A pre-approval tells you exactly what a lender will lend, subject to the property valuation, and it lasts about 90 days. Insist on one where a credit assessor has actually reviewed your documents, not an automated "in principle" figure. This matters doubly if you plan to bid at auction. Read home loan pre-approval explained.
Step 6. Confirm scheme eligibility in writing. Your broker lodges the First Home Guarantee reservation with a participating lender at this stage and checks the FHOG and duty concession criteria against your circumstances. Eligibility should be locked down before you make an offer, not after.
Month 4 to 6: find and secure the property
Step 7. Search with your caps in mind. For a Melbourne guarantee purchase the cap is $950,000; the duty exemption ends at $600,000 and the concession at $750,000; the grant needs a new home under $750,000. Write these numbers on the fridge. Location pages for Craigieburn, Mickleham, Wollert and Sunbury cover typical local prices and what buyers there usually use.
Step 8. Review the Section 32 and contract before you offer. In Victoria the vendor must give you a Section 32 vendor statement disclosing title, mortgages, easements, planning overlays, building permits from the last seven years and owners corporation details. Have a conveyancer read it. See Section 32 vendor statement and contract of sale in Victoria.
Step 9. Inspect properly. Order a building and pest inspection ($400–$700) on any established home before you commit. For house-and-land, read the build contract for site costs, inclusions and the fixed-price period.
Step 10. Make your offer with the right conditions. In a private sale, sign subject to finance and subject to building and pest, and remember you have a cooling-off period of three clear business days (penalty $100 or 0.2% of the price, whichever is greater). At auction there is no cooling-off and no finance condition, so you must be unconditionally ready. See subject to finance clause, cooling-off period in Victoria and buying at auction in Victoria.
Weeks 1 to 3 after signing: formal approval
Step 11. Lender valuation and formal approval. Your broker submits the signed contract; the lender orders a valuation and issues formal (unconditional) approval, typically within 2 to 10 business days. If the valuation comes in low, you fund the gap or renegotiate, which is why a buffer matters.
Step 12. Sign loan documents and apply for the grant. The lender issues the loan contract and mortgage. Sign, return, and lodge the FHOG application through the lender. Your conveyancer lodges the duty exemption with the State Revenue Office as part of the transfer.
Settlement day (usually 30 to 90 days after contract)
Step 13. Final inspection. Walk through the property in the days before settlement to check it is in the same condition as when you signed and that any included items are still there.
Step 14. Settle. Settlement happens electronically through PEXA. Your conveyancer, the vendor's representative and both lenders exchange funds and title at an agreed time; you collect the keys from the agent that afternoon. Read the settlement process in Victoria.
Step 15. Move in within 12 months and stay 12 months. Both the duty exemption and the grant require this. If your plans change, tell the SRO early; repaying a concession is far cheaper than a penalty.
Choosing the right first home loan
Rate type and features
Most first home buyers in the north take a variable loan with an offset account or a split between fixed and variable to cap risk. A fixed rate gives certainty for two or three years but limits extra repayments and can carry break costs. See fixed versus variable rates and offset versus redraw.
Reading the comparison rate
Two loans with the same headline rate can cost very different amounts once fees are counted. The comparison rate rolls most fees into a single figure on a standard $150,000 loan over 25 years, which is a useful ranking tool but not your actual cost. Our comparison rate guide shows how to use it properly.
Low deposit without the guarantee
If you are not eligible for the guarantee (for example, you are on a temporary visa or you have owned before), you can still buy with 5 to 10% by paying LMI, or by using a family guarantor to avoid it. See understanding LVR and LMI, buying with a guarantor and our low deposit home loans service.
Common mistakes first home buyers make in Victoria
- Budgeting only for the deposit. Duty, conveyancing and lender fees can exceed $40,000 on an $800,000 purchase. Count them from day one.
- Buying at $760,000 when $745,000 was on offer. At $750,000 you lose both the duty concession and the grant. A few thousand dollars in price can cost $50,000 in benefits.
- Bidding at auction on an "in principle" pre-approval. If the lender later declines, you forfeit the 10% deposit. Only bid on a fully assessed approval.
- Moving the deposit between accounts. Lenders trace three months of statements; unexplained large transfers slow the file down and can undermine genuine savings.
- Signing a house-and-land contract without reading site costs. Rock, fill and drainage can add $20,000 to $50,000 above the package price.
- Ignoring the 12-month residency rule. Renting the property out early breaches both the exemption and the grant.
- Applying to several lenders at once. Each application is a credit enquiry; three in a month can push a marginal file into a decline.
- Skipping the Section 32 review. An easement over the backyard or an owners corporation with a special levy is exactly what the document is for.
Your first home buyer checklist
- Deposit of at least 5% held for 3 months in your name
- Extra cash for duty (if any), conveyancing, inspections and fees
- Credit file checked and any issues fixed
- Documents gathered per the checklist
- Fully assessed pre-approval in hand (valid 90 days)
- First Home Guarantee place reserved through a participating lender
- FHOG and duty concession eligibility confirmed in writing
- Conveyancer engaged before you make an offer
- Section 32 and contract reviewed
- Building and pest inspection done (established homes)
- Offer made subject to finance (private sale) or fully unconditional funds ready (auction)
- Building insurance arranged from the date you sign
- Final inspection booked before settlement
Every item on this list has a matching page in our first home buyer handbook, and our first home buyer loans service manages the finance side end to end.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a house with a 5% deposit in Victoria?
Yes. Under the First Home Guarantee an eligible first home buyer can purchase with a 5% deposit and no lenders mortgage insurance, on a home up to $950,000 in Melbourne and Geelong or $650,000 elsewhere in Victoria. Outside the scheme you can still buy with 5% by paying LMI, or by using a guarantor. You must still pass the lender's serviceability assessment at your rate plus 3 percentage points.
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in Victoria?
Not on homes with a dutiable value up to $600,000, provided you live in the home for 12 months starting within 12 months of settlement. Between $600,001 and $750,000 a sliding concession applies, so a $650,000 purchase pays roughly $11,357 rather than $34,070. Above $750,000 full duty applies. For house-and-land packages, duty is assessed on the land alone, which is often under $600,000.
How much is the First Home Owner Grant in Victoria in 2026?
The Victorian First Home Owner Grant is $10,000 for a new home valued up to $750,000. The home must never have been lived in, which covers house-and-land builds, off-the-plan townhouses and apartments, and newly completed spec homes. Established properties do not qualify. You apply through your lender or directly with the State Revenue Office and must live in the home for 12 continuous months.
How long does it take to buy a first home in Victoria?
Allow three to six months from serious preparation to settlement. Pre-approval takes one to two weeks once documents are ready and lasts about 90 days. The search commonly takes one to three months. After you sign, formal approval takes 2 to 10 business days and settlement is typically 30 to 90 days later. A house-and-land package adds a 6 to 12 month build after the land settles.
Can I use the First Home Guarantee and the grant together?
Yes. The guarantee is a federal loan scheme and the grant is a Victorian cash payment, and they have separate eligibility tests. A buyer of a new $700,000 Wollert home could use a 5% deposit with no LMI, receive the $10,000 grant, and pay a reduced duty concession all at once. The one combination not allowed is the First Home Guarantee with Help to Buy.
Should I use a mortgage broker as a first home buyer?
A broker compares dozens of lenders' policies, which matters because each treats casual income, HECS, credit card limits and genuine savings differently. Brokers owe you a Best Interests Duty under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, and our home-loan service is at no cost to you in most cases because the lender pays the commission. See mortgage broker versus bank.
Talk to GNT Finance
Gorakh Timilsina spent years as a senior credit officer assessing loan applications before founding GNT Finance, and now helps first home buyers across Melbourne's north turn the schemes above into approvals. Bring your payslips and your questions; we'll map out your budget, your eligibility and your timeline in one conversation, in English, Nepali or Hindi. Book a free consultation or call 0426 403 703.
Written by Gorakh Timilsina
Founder, CEO & Senior Mortgage Consultant at GNT Finance. Gorakh started as a broker assistant, spent years as a senior credit officer assessing loan applications, and now helps Melbourne families get the right loan approved. English, Nepali and Hindi spoken.