Affordability challenges remain, but first-home buyers are finding ways to enter the market. The PropTrack CommBank First-Home Buyer Report 2025 highlights growing activity in more affordable areas and among buyers opting for townhouses, duplexes, and units.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore notes that many first-home buyers are leaning on government support schemes and family guarantors, with most purchasing with less than a 20% deposit. This approach has helped keep demand alive despite higher borrowing costs.

The report identifies Melbourne’s outer suburbs as the strongest hotspots for first-home buyer activity, with almost half of the top 20 locations situated there. Dandenong leads nationally, with nearly double the usual proportion of first-home buyer interest. The Brunswick-Coburg corridor, Darebin, and Moreland follow closely.

Outside Victoria, Canberra’s Gungahlin and Molonglo districts and Hobart’s north-west region are standout markets.

The data shows that younger buyers remain determined to get onto the property ladder, even if it means compromising on location or property type. Affordable growth corridors are emerging as the new frontiers for first-home ownership.