Compare buying now with saving a bigger deposit, on your own numbers.
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Buying now or saving a bigger deposit depends on whether waiting crosses a threshold that matters. Saving past 20 per cent removes mortgage insurance, and eligible first home buyers can avoid it at 5 per cent through the scheme.
If waiting only shrinks the loan a little while you keep paying rent, buying sooner often costs less. The calculator shows both paths side by side.
Part of the first home buyer loans guide.
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For eligible first home buyers, the government guarantee scheme removes lenders mortgage insurance at a five per cent deposit, which changes this comparison completely. Worth checking eligibility before running the numbers.
If you qualify, the twenty per cent threshold may be irrelevant to you and waiting could cost a year for very little gain.
Whether prices move while you save, whether your income changes, and whether the property you want will still be available. Those are the real variables and none of them is predictable.
What this gives you is the arithmetic you can be certain about, so the uncertain parts are the only thing left to weigh.
It turns on two things: whether the extra saving crosses the 20 per cent line where mortgage insurance stops, and whether a scheme removes the insurance anyway.
Below those thresholds the gain from waiting is mostly a smaller loan, which has to be weighed against the rent you pay while waiting.
No, and that is deliberate. It holds the price constant so the comparison is arithmetic you can rely on rather than a forecast dressed up as one. If prices move while you save, the comparison moves with them, and neither we nor anyone else can tell you which way.
No. It is what allows many people to buy years earlier than a twenty per cent deposit would permit, and those years of ownership have their own value.
It should be a decision made with the number in front of you rather than a cost discovered at approval. The LMI calculator gives an indicative premium.
Then this comparison usually resolves in favour of buying sooner, because the scheme removes the insurance cost that waiting was designed to avoid.
There has been no cap on places since 1 October 2025, but eligibility depends on you and the property, so it is worth confirming rather than assuming either way.
Ideally yes, in your own thinking. Money in a deposit is not doing anything else, and a fair comparison remembers that. The calculator keeps it simple on purpose; the fuller conversation is worth having with someone who can see your whole position.
Charles can tell you whether a scheme changes the maths entirely, and what your borrowing figure supports today.
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Estimates only, not credit or financial advice. This tool uses general assumptions and cannot see your credit file, verify your income or apply any particular lender's policy. Your position is confirmed in a full assessment.
Official sources for the figures on this page: Housing Australia, 5% Deposit Scheme · Revenue NSW, First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme · Revenue NSW, First Home Owner Grant · ATO, First Home Super Saver Scheme. Scheme rules change; the official pages are the final word. Checked against these sources on 12 October 2026.
