More than 70,000 first-home buyers have bought a Queensland property using the Federal Government’s five per cent deposit scheme, but experts warn it’s not enough to meet the surging population.
Australian Government data revealed buyers were flooding affordable growth markets, with Logan, Ipswich and Mackay the top hotspots for first home buyers.
But Queensland is growing faster than buyers are getting in.
The government’s five per cent deposit scheme has seen 70,000 first-home buyers buy a Queensland home since 2020, with top regions including Logan.
Queensland’s population has jumped by more than half a million people in less than that time, with the cap on eligible guarantees only recently lifted. Ipswich Picture: Rob Williams
ABS data found the population had jumped more than 525,000 since the launch of the scheme in January 2020 — an average of 105,000 a year between September, 2020 and September, 2025.
PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said the benefits of the scheme did not meet the amount of new homes needed, with only 6,500 homes built through the program in Queensland.
“A scheme like this doesn’t do anything to increase housing supply,” she said.
PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said these methods were not solving the root cause of the housing crisis, with a severe lack of supply still driving up prices.
“It’s absolutely critical that the government needs to be doing everything we can to remove barriers to creating new housing, particularly at affordable price points.”
Logan, Ipswich and Moreton Bay took seven of the top ten postcodes for first home buyers.
Ipswich alone made the list four times, with buyers flocking to Raceview, Collingwood Park and Ipswich itself.
Regionally, around 32,500 first home buyers bought a property using the scheme, with postcodes from Mackay, Toowoomba and Gladstone making the top ten.
Postcodes in Logan, Ipswich and Moreton Bay took seven of the top 10 spots for buyers under the guarantee. Mackay Picture: Heidi Petith
Mackay, Gladstone and Toowoomba (pictured) made up the remaining spots on the list, with the regional hubs growing in popularity as people moved out of Brisbane.
The Federal Government first-home buyer scheme allows eligible Aussies to get their first home without paying hefty Lenders Mortgage Insurance fees.
In October 2025, the government lifted the guarantee cap, allowing everyone who qualifies to enter the market with the help of the grant.
Young Queenslanders made up the majority of first-home buyers across the state, where 36,200 people bought a home before they were 30.
Buyers under 30 buyers were not the majority in NSW and Victoria.
Aerial view of Gladstone. Queenslanders under 30 were the majority to use the scheme, making up 36,200 buyers.
Younger buyers were not the majority in NSW or Victoria, which Ms Flaherty suggested meant a healthier job market for youths in the Sunshine State.
Ms Flaherty suggested this showed a healthier job market for young people in the Sunshine State, with well-paying trade work allowing Aussies to get into the market earlier.
“It’s [also] a positive that single women with dependants are being able to access home ownership,” Ms Flaherty said, with the scheme having helped 2,000 of these buyers across Queensland.
Across the six years of the scheme, Queenslanders bought homes at a median of $600,000 for single buyers, and $700,000 for joint buyers.
Around 57 per cent of new single home buyers were men, compared to 42 per cent of women.
Switchboard Finance founder Nicholas Lim said first-home buyers were at risk of falling behind on their repayments if they did not have a financial safety net.
Finance Broker Nicholas Lim said many first-home buyers purchasing with a low deposit were at the risk of falling behind rising mortgage fees, with prices for cheaper homes having spiked after the cap was lifted.
“The scheme works for a specific borrower — stable pay-as-you-go income, low debt, strong savings habits, buying in a growth area where equity builds fast enough,” he said.
“[But] if you buy a $600,000 property with a five per cent deposit, you’ve put down $30,000. After stamp duty, legal fees, and settlement costs, you’re in a negative equity position on day one. You owe more than your stake in the property.”
Aerial view of Moreton Bay. Queensland homes bought with the scheme cost a median of $600,000 for single buyers and $700,000 for joint buyers.
“A 10 per cent market correction, which we’ve seen in Melbourne and Sydney in recent years, doesn’t just wipe out your deposit.
“It puts you underwater. You now owe the bank more than the house is worth.”
Nationwide, 300,300 people were supported by the government assistance.
In August 2025, Housing Australia put this at more than 240,000, making for an increase of up to 60,000 buyers in the last nine months.
The Queensland Government is pursuing additional alternatives to the federal scheme with programs such as the Boost to Buy scheme, but at a smaller scale.
Housing Australia CEO Scott Langford said the Australian Government had been slowly working to broaden the scope of the scheme over the past six years, with the removal of the cap marking an important milestone.
“Working closely with Participating Lenders, the Housing Australia team has successfully scaled the scheme from 10,000 places in its first year in 2020, to supporting more than 300,000 Australians today to take this important step towards the security of home ownership,” he said.
Housing Australia chief executive Scott Langford said the government was working to increase the scheme for more owners, with 300,300 people having used it nationally.
The Queensland Government has begun testing an additional way of providing housing with the Boost to Buy scheme: allowing 2,000 first-home buyers a way to afford a home over the next three years, in exchange for shared ongoing equity in the property.
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