The in-demand suburbs about to be unlocked for a new wave of buyers

Hundreds more suburbs will become available for first-home buyers thanks to a major change designed to help people get into the market.

Property price limits for the federal government’s Home Guarantee Scheme will be lifted across most of Australia, significantly increasing the number of suburbs first-home buyers can target.

Under the scheme, buyers can purchase their first home with as little as a 5% deposit without the need to pay Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance.

But from October 1, the scheme’s price caps will be lifted across most markets, reflecting the increase in property prices in recent years.

Income caps will also be removed and the scheme will have unlimited places available under the changes announced last week.

First-home buyers purchasing under the scheme will be able to spend up to $1.5 million in Sydney, $1 million in Brisbane and Canberra, $950,000 in Melbourne, $900,000 in Adelaide, $850,000 in Perth and $700,000 in Hobart.

Home Guarantee property price caps to increase from October 2025

The most significant price cap increase was in Sydney, where the cap increased by 67%. Price limits will increase by 50% in Adelaide, 43% in Brisbane, 42% in Perth, 33% in Canberra. 

Melbourne’s price cap will rise by 19%, while Hobart’s will be lifted by 17%, reflecting the smaller rise in prices in these cities in recent years.

Regional centres including the Illawarra, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in NSW, Geelong in Victoria, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast in Queensland will also see their price caps rise to the same level as their respective capital cities.

More suburbs now available to first-home buyers

The scheme’s current price caps mean that based on median prices, only a small proportion of suburbs were realistically available to first-home buyers looking for a house, especially in pricey markets like Sydney.

It’s a major bugbear for buyers frustrated by the lack of options under the limits imposed by the scheme, especially in traditionally-affordable areas where prices have shot up in recent years as a result of higher levels of demand.

REA Group executive manager of economics Angus Moore said expanding the scheme would help more first-home buyers get into the market, while the higher price caps would help bring more homes into eligibility.

“Uncapping the number of places almost surely will see more first-time buyers using the scheme,” he said.

“While first-home buyers are a reasonably small part of the market overall, we may see bigger effects in the price brackets and areas where first-home buyers are particularly concentrated.”

Analysis of PropTrack data shows that there are dozens of in-demand suburbs where median prices sit between the old and new price caps, meaning these suburbs will be opened up to more first-home buyers from October 1.

The changes mean first-home buyers purchasing under the scheme could potentially buy into high-demand and pricier suburbs such as Kirribilli in Sydney, Toorak in Melbourne and Paddington in Brisbane, provided they’re looking for an apartment rather than a house, that is.

The median price is the midpoint of all property sales in the past year, meaning half of properties sold below and half above. It gives a good indication of typical property prices in a suburb.

The list of suburbs is ranked by enquiries per listing — a measure used to determine the level of demand from buyers — to determine the most sought-after suburbs now unlocked for first-home buyers.

Most in-demand Sydney suburbs under $1.5 million Home Guarantee cap

In Sydney, the most in-demand suburbs with house buyers had prices much more affordable than the city’s $1.58 million median house price, and were found largely in the city’s west.

Mr Moore said the higher cap would mean two thirds of homes across Sydney would be eligible – up from less than a third of homes under the existing cap.

Under the new caps, buyers would be able to purchase a median-priced house in Rooty Hill ($1 million), St Johns Park ($1.23 million) and Mount Druitt ($1.015 million) – suburbs prized for their relatively affordability, but generally not an option under the lower existing caps.

Houses on the market in these suburbs received more than 100 enquiries on average, indicating elevated interest in properties at the more affordable end of the market.

Real estate agent and Ray White United Group director Peter Diamantidis said the existing caps were too low for purchasing a freestanding house, even in some of Sydney’s most affordable suburbs.

“$900,000 for a house? No chance,” he said. “But for a townhouse or unit, there’s big opportunities out our way.”

He said conditions were already heating up in popular western Sydney suburbs such as St Marys, but higher price caps would encourage more first-home buyers to get into the market, particularly in suburbs just a little pricier than the existing caps.

“At the moment, we’re running out of properties,” he said. “We’re getting more buyers coming to the area, and [the higher caps] might push prices even higher.”

It’s a very different situation in the unit market, with the higher $1.5 million cap allowing buyers to purchase with government assistance in several affluent waterfront suburbs such as Kirribili, Coogee, McMahons Point and Bondi Beach, where units are highly sought-after.

Most of the Sydney suburbs with median unit prices between $900,000 and $1.5 million were found in the inner and eastern suburbs, north shore or northern beaches.

Most in-demand Melbourne suburbs under $950,000 Home Guarantee cap

In Melbourne, suburbs such as Endeavour Hills, Narre Warren South and Berwick in the outer east were among the most in-demand in the city, but houses mostly sold for prices exceeding the existing cap of $800,000.

The higher price cap of $950,000 made the scheme appealing to more first-home buyers, according to real estate agent and Area Specialist Endeavour Hills director Jay Giblett. 

“Buyers are talking more about it and are getting excited about it,” he said. “Some people have said they’re going to wait for it to begin [before buying].”

He said the expansion of the scheme, as well as recent rate cuts, had increased demand in the area, which was popular among first-home buyers.

“The numbers at open homes have gone through the roof,” he said. “Buyer confidence is certainly there.”

The expanded scheme could give more unit buyers access to pricey suburbs such as Toorak and Balwyn, where median unit prices sit just above the current price caps.

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Real estate agent Brandon Whitta of Marshall White said the expanded caps would help some first-home buyers who had their eyes set on Toorak.

“For young professional buyers who work nearby, the apartment space is a great first step.”

However many first-home buyers in Toorak were locals who already had financial support from family, he said. 

Most in-demand Brisbane suburbs under $950,000 Home Guarantee Scheme cap

	Suburb	Median price	Enquiries per listing
Houses
1	Redbank Plains	$700,500	112
2	Browns Plains	$802,500	111
3	Slacks Creek	$743,500	107
4	Loganlea	$780,000	105
5	Waterford West	$720,000	104
6	Darra	$950,000	104
7	Tanah Merah	$900,000	104
8	Beenleigh	$715,000	99
9	Loganholme	$792,500	99
10	Bald Hills	$850,000	98
Units
1	Paddington	$850,000	85
2	Newmarket	$725,000	85
3	Windsor	$700,750	84
4	Wishart	$780,000	80
5	Aspley	$780,000	77
6	Eight Mile Plains	$725,000	77
7	Greenslopes	$760,000	76
8	Ashgrove	$805,000	76
9	Alderley	$700,000	75
10	Kangaroo Point	$767,500	72

Apartment buyers will also be able to access some of Brisbane’s most sought-after inner suburbs, where prices are above the existing cap of $700,000, but below the new cap of $1 million.

That means Paddington, Newmarket and Windsor could all be on the radar for more first-home buyers looking to buy a unit with the aid of the home guarantee scheme.

Much like the other capitals, the high-demand Brisbane suburbs now unlocked for house buyers were at the more affordable end of the market, but the existing price caps were too low for a median-priced house to qualify.

From October 1, first-home buyers in Browns Plains, Slacks Creek and Darra will be able to buy a median-priced house using the scheme, something previously not possible due to prices typically exceeding the $700,000 cap.

Most in-demand Perth suburbs under $850,000 Home Guarantee cap

	Suburb	Median price	Enquiries per listing
Houses
1	Balcatta	$845,000	74
2	Osborne Park	$790,000	68
3	Carlisle	$820,000	64
4	Bentley	$751,000	61
5	Queens Park	$733,750	57
6	Westminster	$659,000	57
7	Maddington	$625,000	56
8	Kenwick	$680,000	56
9	Martin	$850,000	55
10	Midland	$600,000	55
Units
1	Fremantle	$610,000	56
2	Palmyra	$667,000	52
3	Doubleview	$740,000	50
4	Attadale	$645,000	50
5	Shenton Park	$625,000	48
6	Leederville	$675,000	48
7	Bentley	$600,000	47
8	Como	$737,000	46
9	North Coogee	$710,022	46
10	Innaloo	$615,000	43

Perth first-home buyers looking at houses could look at Balcatta, Bentley and Queens Park, where median prices between the current and new caps.

Buyers seeking a unit under Perth’s expanded $850,000 cap can add Fremantle, Como, Leederville and Shenton Park to their list.

Most in-demand Adelaide suburbs under $900,000 Home Guarantee cap

	Suburb	Median price	Enquiries per listing
Houses
1	Port Willunga	$787,500	65
2	Woodville West	$852,750	63
3	Salisbury	$671,000	62
4	Lewiston	$855,500	62
5	Christies Beach	$762,500	61
6	Gilles Plains	$795,000	61
7	Christie Downs	$650,000	60
8	Dernancourt	$890,000	58
9	Dover Gardens	$880,000	57
10	Park Holme	$886,935	56
Units
1	Henley Beach	$660,000	83
2	Norwood	$795,000	53
3	Campbelltown	$620,000	53
4	North Adelaide	$690,000	50
5	Magill	$635,000	49
6	Glenelg	$635,000	46
7	Glenelg East	$655,000	43
8	Brompton	$700,000	41
9	Parkside	$705,000	39
10	West Lakes	$740,000	39

The upsized $900,000 cap for Adelaide would allow unit buyers to look at Glenelg or North Adelaide, while first-home buyers seeking a house could look at Woodville West, Dernancourt or Salisbury.

Hobart first-home buyers looking to take advantage of the scheme can now go house-hunting in Moonah or Kingston, while apartment buyers could look in Sandy Bay and Battery Point.

Most in-demand Hobart suburbs under $700,000 Home Guarantee cap

	Suburb	Median price	Enquiries per listing
Houses
1	West Moonah	$656,000	34
2	Mornington	$607,500	31
3	Moonah	$635,000	30
4	Kingston	$700,000	28
5	Rosetta	$622,500	28
6	Austins Ferry	$605,000	27
7	Lutana	$615,000	25
8	Midway Point	$615,000	23
9	Rokeby	$600,000	22
10	Sorell	$660,000	20
Units
1	Hobart	$890,000	28
2	Battery Point	$750,000	26
3	Sandy Bay	$650,000	25
4	North Hobart	$750,000	22
5	Howrah	$626,000	20
6	Blackmans Bay	$620,000	17

The higher $1 million cap in Canberra unlocks several southern and western suburbs, including Kambah, Wanniassa and Holt.

Most in-demand Canberra suburbs under $1 million Home Guarantee cap

Houses	Suburb	Median price	Enquiries per listing
1	Wanniassa	$862,500	23
2	Isabella Plains	$840,000	23
3	Ngunnawal	$760,000	23
4	Richardson	$770,000	23
5	Waramanga	$882,500	22
6	Coombs	$758,000	22
7	Holt	$822,000	22
8	Evatt	$875,000	22
9	Kambah	$865,500	21
10	Latham	$817,500	21
Units
1	Campbell	$760,000	10
2	Forrest	$765,000	12

The price cap in the Northern Territory will remain at $600,000. Median house prices in about half of Darwin suburbs sit under this figure, while only one suburb, Bayview, has a median unit price that’s higher.

Whether this cap is sufficient for first-home buyers trying to get into the market remains to be seen, given Darwin is now the nation’s strongest capital city for home price growth.

The post The in-demand suburbs about to be unlocked for a new wave of buyers appeared first on realestate.com.au.