New NAB data reveals Melbourne's booming western and northern suburbs remain the top Australian locations for first home buyers heading into 2023, but a suburb in Sydney's north-west is rapidly closing the gap.
Despite the rising cost-of-living and an overall softening in the market, first home buyer activity remained steady in the second half of 2022, demonstrating first home buyers are taking advantage of easing house prices and government support schemes.
In Victoria, around one in 10 first home buyers are choosing to buy in areas around Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne's west or Craigieburn in the city's north. Melbourne's growth areas have been further strengthened by billions of dollars in recently completed road projects and ongoing transport upgrades.
Sydney's north-west growth suburb of Schofields tops the list of first home buyer hotspots in NSW, recording a 63% jump in quarter-on-quarter demand at the end of last year, driven by the completion of several new housing developments and off-the-plan properties eligible for state government assistance schemes.
Further north, Queensland's top first home buyer suburbs were in the Garden City of Toowoomba. The regional centre is experiencing an infrastructure boom and first home buyers have been targeting the suburbs of Darling Heights and Drayton. In fact, three of the top five locations for first home buyers in Queensland were in regional cities outside of Greater Brisbane: Toowoomba, Mackay and Bundaberg.
NAB Executive Home Ownership Andy Kerr said first home buyers weren't being deterred from entering the property market and were looking for opportunities amid the changing market conditions.
"Value and location remain the two most important factors for first home buyers when looking to purchase their first property," Mr Kerr said.
"Despite the overall market softening, first home buyers are bucking the trend with sales staying stable nationally and growing in some of the hottest suburbs such as Schofields in NSW.
"Outer metro growth areas like Tarneit in Melbourne, Hallett Cove, right near Adelaide's southern beaches and suburbs south-east of Perth have great amenities, particularly for young families.
"Many of these areas are also attractive areas for investors and have high growth over the past five years as well as good rental yields.
"The popularity of these areas for first home buyers remained strong throughout the second half of 2022 and we expect to see steady demand early this year, as first home buyers look to areas representing the best value."
Mr Kerr said buying a first home can be a daunting experience for many and encouraged anyone needing support through the process to contact their bank.
"We want to make it easy for first home buyers and with our new platform we've seen some home loans unconditionally approved in 15 minutes, which takes a lot of the stress out of the process.
