South Australia Slashes Graduate Home Loan Deposit To Only Two Per Cent

Owning your own home is set to get easier for young South Australians with a new taxpayer-funded loan scheme.

HomeStart, from Tuesday will drop their graduate loan to a minimum deposit of two per cent, down from three.      

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Premier Peter Malinauskas on Sunday hailed the state government’s housing finance scheme as a step in the right direction to helping young people break into the property market.

“We know, of course, that the escalation in home prices throughout the nation has actually made the task of homeownership for first homebuyers particularly difficult,” he said.

“We’ve got a situation in the nation, including here in South Australia, where people who are working exceedingly hard are finding it difficult to get their foot in the door to get that first time to be able to live out the Australian dream.”

- Premier Malinauskas

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said as SA’s property market stabilises, the new scheme will save people thousands of dollars.

"Rather than South Australians having to spend years and years trying to save 20 per cent deposit to get a loan with one of the big four banks, instead that time is now reduced perhaps to only months.

"Even though some of the heat is going to be coming out of the market, for the first time we're going to be seeing South Australians armed properly so they can compete in the market," he said.

Available to South Australians with a Certificate III or higher qualification, successful applicants will not need to pay lender's mortgage insurance, saving thousands of dollars in upfront costs.

With more than 2000 graduate loans signed off by HomeStart already, Mr Mullighan estimates more than 250,000 young people are eligible to apply.

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