Your complete guide to buying your first home in Victoria in 2026. $10K grant, stamp duty exemptions, Help to Buy & how much deposit you actually need.
If you've been sitting on the sidelines wondering whether it's the right time to jump into the property market — 2026 is shaping up to be one of the best windows for first home buyers in Victoria in years.
Here's why:
Stack a few of these together and we're talking serious money back in your pocket. Some first home buyers in Victoria are saving $30,000 to $40,000+ in combined grants, duty savings, and government support.
The catch? Most of these schemes have eligibility rules and price caps. Get one thing wrong and you could miss out entirely. That's exactly why we put this guide together — to walk you through every option available to you right now, with real numbers and zero fluff.
Let's get into it.
The First Home Owner Grant is the big one most people have heard of. The Victorian government will give you a straight-up $10,000 cash payment to help you buy or build a new home.
Sounds great, right? It is — but there are some rules you need to know about.
This is the part that trips people up. The FHOG is only for new homes. That means:
Established homes don't qualify. If you're buying a 20-year-old house in Werribee, you won't get the grant. But you will still be eligible for the stamp duty exemption (more on that in the next section).
The total value of your new home must be $750,000 or under. Go even a dollar over and you miss out on the full $10,000.
You need to move in within 12 months of settlement and live there as your principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months. No buying it and immediately renting it out.
Most of the time, your lender or mortgage broker handles the FHOG application as part of your loan process. The $10,000 typically gets applied at settlement — so it's one less thing you need to stress about on the day.
Stamp duty (officially called land transfer duty) is that brutal upfront cost that catches first home buyers off guard. On a $650,000 property, you'd normally be up for around $35,000+ in stamp duty. Ouch.
The good news? As a first home buyer in Victoria, you can dramatically reduce or completely eliminate this cost.
If your property's dutiable value is $600,000 or less, you pay $0 in stamp duty. Nothing. Nada. That's a saving of up to $31,070 compared to standard rates.
And here's the beauty — unlike the FHOG, this applies to new AND established homes. Buying a second-hand place? You still get the full exemption as long as it's under $600,000.
If your property is valued between $600,001 and $750,000, you get a sliding scale concession. The closer you are to $600,000, the bigger the saving. The closer to $750,000, the smaller the discount.
For example:
Buying off-the-plan? There's a separate concession that can reduce the dutiable value of your property. Basically, you may only pay stamp duty on the land component — not the building work that hasn't been completed yet. This can stack with the first home buyer exemption, potentially saving you even more.
The Victorian government has a temporary enhanced off-the-plan concession running through to October 2026, which has no price threshold — meaning it applies to properties of any value.
Pro tip: Use the State Revenue Office's stamp duty calculator to get an exact figure for your property. And always check with your broker — they'll know exactly how much you'll save.
On top of the Victorian grants, the federal government has a couple of schemes that can seriously help you get into your first home faster.
This is the big new one. The Help to Buy scheme officially launched in December 2025, and it's a game-changer for eligible buyers.
Here's how it works:
Let's put that in real numbers. On a $600,000 existing home:
That's monthly repayments of roughly $2,446 instead of $3,400+ if you'd borrowed the full amount. Massive difference.
Important: Only two lenders currently offer Help to Buy (Commonwealth Bank and Bank Australia), but more are expected to join in 2026. A broker can help you figure out if this scheme is the right fit or if other options work out better for you.
This one's been around for a while, but it's still underused. The FHSSS lets you make extra voluntary contributions to your super, then withdraw them to use as a deposit.
The FHSSS works best if you plan ahead. If you start contributing a year or two before buying, you could have a solid chunk of deposit ready to go — and you'll have paid less tax along the way.
This is the question everyone asks — and the answer might surprise you. You don't necessarily need a 20% deposit to buy your first home. Here's what it actually looks like in 2026.
Most lenders want to see at least a 5% deposit. On a $550,000 property, that's $27,500. If you can get to 20% ($110,000), you avoid paying lender's mortgage insurance (LMI), which can add thousands to your costs.
If you qualify for the Help to Buy scheme, you only need 2%. On that same $550,000 property, that's just $11,000. The government covers up to 30-40%, and you borrow the rest.
Example 1: New townhouse in Point Cook — $580,000
Example 2: Established unit in Werribee — $480,000
Example 3: New apartment in Melbourne CBD — $500,000 (using Help to Buy)
See how different each scenario looks? The right strategy depends on your situation — your savings, income, where you want to buy, and which schemes you're eligible for.
Look, you can do all of this yourself. You can research every grant, call the State Revenue Office, compare 50 different lenders, and try to figure out which combination of schemes saves you the most money.
Or you can talk to a broker who does this every single day.
Here at Brokio, we're based in Point Cook and we specialise in helping first home buyers across Melbourne's west and beyond. We've helped hundreds of people go from "I don't even know where to start" to picking up their keys.
The best time to chat to a broker? Before you start looking at properties. We can tell you exactly what you can borrow, what you'll actually pay, and which grants will save you the most. That way, when you find the right place, you can move fast with confidence.
Ready to figure out your options? Get in touch with Brokio for a free, no-obligation chat. We'll map out your path to home ownership — no jargon, no pressure, just straight-up advice.
Ready to explore tailored loan options? Contact Brokio today and let us guide you through your mortgage, car loan, personal loan, or investment property loan journey with confidence.
