New first home buyer loans up 20 per cent over last year, says ABS

By Jack Dona · · 2 min read
Fact Checked
A couple smile and shake hands with a real estate agent inside a house

First home buyer activity roared back to life by the end of 2023, after a comparatively slow start to the year, and a 2022 riddled with aggressive cash rate hikes and rising inflation .

Despite ongoing inflation and higher interest rates, 20.3% more new home loan commitments were recorded than in the previous year to November 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This might mean more and more Australians are keen to buy a first home , and consumer confidence, at least when it comes to property, is on the mend.

However, the ABS data also revealed that the values of these new loans for first-time buyers ballooned by 25.8% during the year to November 2023, which could be driven by the increase in demand.

The ABS notes the average mortgage size in Australia was $608,000 in November 2023.

With hope on the cards for a potential cash rate cut in 2024 , is this the year you finally get a foot in the door of your first home?

RELATED: 10 expert tips for buying your first home in 2024

A low-rate loan could be the key to your first home

A lower rate can improve your borrowing power and increase the chances of your lender approving your loan request.

Low-rate home loans can also help to keep your monthly mortgage bill down, and might even save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest over the long term.

For example, the average owner-occupied home loan on a variable rate of 6.85% p.a. ($400k, <80% LVR) will cost you $2,789 per month, or $436,687 in interest after 25 years.

If you were to cut your interest rate down by just 0.96% p.a., to 5.89% p.a. (the lowest standard variable rate in our database), you’d be saving $239 per month, or $71,574 in interest after 25 years.

So, make sure you compare home loans when doing your research, to ensure you’re getting as low a rate as you possibly can, while still getting all the home loan features you might want.

Read through our first time buyer guides, or get an idea of what interest rates some of the home loan lenders in our database are charging below.