Fresh settlement data shows first home buyers piling into well-connected western Sydney hubs — and apartments are how they’re getting in. Here’s what that means for you.
Where First Home Buyers Are Actually Buying
This isn’t listings or sentiment — it’s completed settlements from InfoTrack’s conveyancing data, so it shows where money actually changed hands.
Parramatta and Liverpool lead NSW for first home buyer purchases
First-home purchases are clustering in affordable, well-connected, family-friendly hubs — Parramatta (#1) and Liverpool (#2), with regional Dubbo (#3) rounding out the podium. Buyers are maximising value with government grants and stamp duty concessions — and strata is the vehicle: nearly three in four settled on apartments or townhouses.
Strata is the realistic entry point for most — but houses are gaining ground, up to 23.3% of first-home purchases as recent scheme changes stretch budgets further. Parramatta and Liverpool win on the fundamentals: transport, jobs and entry prices that still work with grants and stamp duty concessions. The catch — everyone else has read the same data.
Strata’s share of all NSW purchases recovered to 27% this quarter, and first home buyer demand is concentrated exactly where well-located units are. Meanwhile houses hit 66.8% of settlements statewide — so pressure on standalone stock isn’t easing either. Both ends of the market have a demand floor under them.
Our view: First home buyer demand is the strongest floor under western Sydney unit values right now — the grants and concessions are doing real work.
What to do now: Get your borrowing capacity confirmed before the 11 August RBA decision — pre-approval in hand beats scrambling once spring stock arrives.
🎯 The Big Picture
I pay more attention to settlement data than to headlines, because it only counts contracts that actually completed. And this quarter it confirms what I see in applications every week: first home buyers aren’t waiting for perfect conditions — they’re getting in via strata in hubs like Parramatta and Liverpool, then upgrading later. The scheme changes have genuinely moved the needle on what first-timers can borrow. If that’s you (or your kids), get the capacity check done first — it’s the cheapest insurance you can get before spring.
Growth Corridor Watch: VIC & QLD
The same affordability-driven pattern is playing out interstate — sourced from InfoTrack settlement data, Q2 2026.
Melbourne’s Outer Corridors, VIC
Regional Victoria has vanished from the top 10 — the growth corridors took its place. Mildura, Warrnambool and Traralgon all dropped out as buyer volume poured into Melbourne’s west, north and south-east growth belts.
Queensland is recalibrating after a strong run of price growth, with activity consolidating into a handful of affordable, high-growth corridors — Caboolture, Morayfield, Burpengary, Springfield Lakes and Redbank Plains, the latter lifted by the $2.5bn city centre build and 2032 Olympic village.
Market Insights
Key news and developments for Australian property owners and investors this fortnight.
Dubbo just became NSW’s #1 property market
The latest Q2 settlement data puts Dubbo at the top of the state for buyer activity — the third straight quarter a regional centre has led NSW, after Port Macquarie’s run. Affordability and lifestyle are pulling buyers further out, and volumes like these tend to show up in prices later.
Vacant land purchases nearly halved in NSW
Land’s share of NSW purchases dropped from 11% to 6.2% in a single quarter — a clear signal that high material and labour costs are making build projects harder to stack up. If you’re weighing build vs established, run the full numbers (including construction finance) before committing.
NSW purchase prices rose 5.9% in a single quarter
Even as buyers shift toward affordable corridors, the median price paid keeps climbing — up 5.9% quarter-on-quarter off a strong January. Rising prices plus higher rates means your borrowing capacity from six months ago is probably out of date. A quick review fixes that.
This article was originally sent to Assembly Finance clients as an email market update and is republished here for reference. Rates, figures and policy settings were current at the date of publication and may have changed. General information only — not financial advice. Assembly Finance is a Credit Representative of Finsure Finance & Insurance Pty Ltd (Australian Credit Licence 384704).
