The number of new first home buyer loans rose 6.8 per cent to 31,783 in December quarter 2025, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Dr Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics said, 'There was strong growth across all borrower-types this quarter. The number of first home buyer loans rose 6.8 per cent, investor loan numbers rose 5.5 per cent and the number of owner-occupier non-first home buyer loans rose 3.6 percent.'
'This was the largest rise in the number of first home buyer loans since the December quarter 2023, and their value increased by 15.5 percent.'
Changes to policies supporting first home-buyers this quarter include the expansion of the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme and the introduction of the Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme.
| Total dwellings (seasadj) (no.) | Owner occupier (seasadj) (no.) | Investor (seasadj) (no.) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec-15 | NA | 86,394 | NA |
| Mar-16 | NA | 84,630 | NA |
| Jun-16 | NA | 88,784 | NA |
| Sep-16 | NA | 82,569 | NA |
| Dec-16 | NA | 84,147 | NA |
| Mar-17 | NA | 89,498 | NA |
| Jun-17 | NA | 90,155 | NA |
| Sep-17 | NA | 93,218 | NA |
| Dec-17 | NA | 89,488 | NA |
| Mar-18 | NA | 87,108 | NA |
| Jun-18 | NA | 86,804 | NA |
| Sep-18 | NA | 83,329 | NA |
| Dec-18 | NA | 80,865 | NA |
| Mar-19 | NA | 75,200 | NA |
| Jun-19 | NA | 73,445 | NA |
| Sep-19 | 108,315 | 77,189 | 31,127 |
| Dec-19 | 111,866 | 80,397 | 31,470 |
| Mar-20 | 109,522 | 79,848 | 29,674 |
| Jun-20 | 94,892 | 70,788 | 24,104 |
| Sep-20 | 119,696 | 90,512 | 29,184 |
| Dec-20 | 134,845 | 102,937 | 31,908 |
| Mar-21 | 156,394 | 118,453 | 37,942 |
| Jun-21 | 158,594 | 115,345 | 43,249 |
| Sep-21 | 158,273 | 108,805 | 49,468 |
| Dec-21 | 155,726 | 103,268 | 52,458 |
| Mar-22 | 153,068 | 100,004 | 53,064 |
| Jun-22 | 142,587 | 93,606 | 48,980 |
| Sep-22 | 129,412 | 86,187 | 43,226 |
| Dec-22 | 116,401 | 77,026 | 39,376 |
| Mar-23 | 109,727 | 72,907 | 36,819 |
| Jun-23 | 116,406 | 77,474 | 38,932 |
| Sep-23 | 115,729 | 75,791 | 39,938 |
| Dec-23 | 122,574 | 79,393 | 43,181 |
| Mar-24 | 120,526 | 76,327 | 44,200 |
| Jun-24 | 133,513 | 83,566 | 49,947 |
| Sep-24 | 134,601 | 83,575 | 51,026 |
| Dec-24 | 131,735 | 82,838 | 48,897 |
| Mar-25 | 128,255 | 79,787 | 48,468 |
| Jun-25 | 134,566 | 83,902 | 50,665 |
| Sep-25 | 142,216 | 84,947 | 57,269 |
| Dec-25 | 149,434 | 88,990 | 60,445 |
All series exclude refinancing.
Some series only commenced collection in the September quarter 2019 with the introduction of the Economic and Financial Statistics collection.
Loan commitments for dwellings includes loans for the purpose of 'Construction of new dwellings', 'Purchase of new dwellings' and 'Purchase of existing dwellings'. 'Residential land' and 'Alterations and additions' are available as separate series.
| Owner occupier first home buyers (seasadj) (no.) | |
|---|---|
| Dec-15 | 19,968 |
| Mar-16 | 20,297 |
| Jun-16 | 21,300 |
| Sep-16 | 20,024 |
| Dec-16 | 20,010 |
| Mar-17 | 20,851 |
| Jun-17 | 21,579 |
| Sep-17 | 26,341 |
| Dec-17 | 26,615 |
| Mar-18 | 26,466 |
| Jun-18 | 26,065 |
| Sep-18 | 25,898 |
| Dec-18 | 24,744 |
| Mar-19 | 23,587 |
| Jun-19 | 24,217 |
| Sep-19 | 26,910 |
| Dec-19 | 28,550 |
| Mar-20 | 29,042 |
| Jun-20 | 26,950 |
| Sep-20 | 37,938 |
| Dec-20 | 42,516 |
| Mar-21 | 48,161 |
| Jun-21 | 42,805 |
| Sep-21 | 37,971 |
| Dec-21 | 35,157 |
| Mar-22 | 33,340 |
| Jun-22 | 30,812 |
| Sep-22 | 28,799 |
| Dec-22 | 26,160 |
| Mar-23 | 26,441 |
| Jun-23 | 27,972 |
| Sep-23 | 27,046 |
| Dec-23 | 29,359 |
| Mar-24 | 28,313 |
| Jun-24 | 29,897 |
| Sep-24 | 29,468 |
| Dec-24 | 29,134 |
| Mar-25 | 28,533 |
| Jun-25 | 29,319 |
| Sep-25 | 29,772 |
| Dec-25 | 31,783 |
- Owner occupiers only
The number of first home buyer owner-occupied loans rose by 2,011 loans (6.8 per cent) to 31,783 in the December quarter, and 9.1 per cent through the year.
There were rises in New South Wales (10.9 per cent), Queensland (6.4 per cent), Victoria (3.5 per cent), Western Australia (9.8 per cent), South Australia (4.8 per cent), Australian Capital Territory (7.1 per cent) and Northern Territory (3.2 per cent), while there was a fall in Tasmania (-1.7 per cent).
'The size of the average first home buyer loan rose by a record 8.5 per cent to $607,624 this quarter and was largely driven by first home buyers in NSW. The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme has increased the eligibility criteria for first home buyers and we are seeing the early effects of this in our data.' Dr Tan said.
There were 60,445 new investment loans approved in the December quarter 2025, a 5.5 per cent (3,176 loans) rise compared to the previous quarter, and 23.6 per cent higher than the December quarter 2024. The total value of new investment loans was $43.0 billion in the December quarter, a rise of 7.9 per cent ($3.2 billion). The average loan size rose over the quarter by $31,008 to $716,711.
There was growth in the number of investment loans across all states: Victoria (8.8 per cent), New South Wales (4.1 per cent), Queensland (3.3 per cent), Western Australia (4.6 per cent), Tasmania (28.2 per cent) and South Australia (2.8 per cent). There were falls across the territories: The Northern Territory (-9.3 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory* (-4.3 per cent).
*The number of investment loans in the Australian Capital Territory is not seasonally adjusted.
