482 Visa Home Loans: Buying on the Skills in Demand Visa [2026 Guide]

Yes, 482 visa holders are among the better-placed temporary residents for a home loan. Employer sponsorship reads as employment stability to some lenders.

Typical lending sits at around 80% of the property value. Some lenders will stretch to 90% or 95% for a strong file (as at July 2026).

The purchase rules are stricter than the lending rules. Until 30 June 2029 you can only buy new property or vacant land in your own name, with FIRB approval.

This guide covers what you can buy, what lenders will offer, the real costs in Queensland, and the two-year pathway to permanent residence.

If you want the whole visa picture first, start with our visa holder home loans guide or check your own position with the visa buying eligibility tool.

The 482 at a glance

Here is the whole picture in one table. Everything below explains it.

As at July 2026. Lender and government policies change without notice and every application is assessed case-by-case.

What you can buy on a 482 visa

Your borrowing power matters less than your buying rights, so we start there. The rules below apply to every temporary resident, 482 holders included.

The foreign buyer ban in plain terms

The federal government has banned temporary residents from purchasing established dwellings from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. A 482 holder counts as a foreign person under this rule, even with years of Australian payslips behind you.

An established dwelling is broadly any home that has previously been sold or occupied. The ex-rental unit and the lived-in Queenslander are both off the table while the ban runs.

Property types still open to you

You can buy property that adds to housing stock, with FIRB approval for each purchase:

• New dwellings. A house or apartment that has never been sold or occupied as a home.
• Off-the-plan purchases. Contracts signed before the building is complete, with a long gap to settlement worth planning around.
• Vacant land to build on. Approvals carry development conditions, usually a requirement to complete construction within a set period.

Apply for FIRB approval before you commit, or make the contract conditional on it. Our FIRB approval guide covers fees, the 30-day decision window and the conditions in detail.

Buying with an Australian partner

A joint purchase with a spouse or de facto partner who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen counts differently. As joint tenants, that purchase generally needs no FIRB approval. Established homes come back into reach through this route.

The structure has real duty and lending consequences, so read our guide to mixed-visa couples buying property before you decide whose name goes on the title.

Who the 482 suits as a buying platform

The 482 (Skills in Demand, formerly TSS) is an employer-sponsored work visa, and the sponsorship is the asset. Your employer has invested in nominating you, which lenders read as commitment on both sides.

The visa runs on defined streams with a defined pathway to permanent residence, which gives lenders and brokers a timeline to plan around. Compare that with the 485 graduate visa, where the clock is the main problem.

What lenders will offer a 482 visa holder

In this section we cover how much you can borrow, why sponsorship helps, and the paperwork lenders expect from a 482 file.

Why employer sponsorship helps your application

Employer sponsorship is the 482’s biggest advantage with lenders. To some credit teams, a sponsored role signals employment stability. That makes the 482 one of the stronger temporary visas to be holding when you apply for a loan.

Banks price two risks on any temporary visa. One is that you leave the country before the loan is repaid. The other is that your right to work has an expiry date. Sponsorship and a PR pathway soften both.

How much can I borrow?

Typical lending sits at around 80% of the property value, so plan for a 20% deposit plus purchase costs. Work the deposit backwards from your target price with our deposit calculator.

Some lenders will consider higher ratios, up to 90% or 95% of the property value, for a strong file (as at July 2026). Strong files typically show:

• Solid income. Stable, full-time sponsored employment in a professional occupation.
• Clean credit. No missed repayments or unpaid defaults on your Australian credit file.
• Genuine savings. A deposit you saved over time, not a lump sum that appeared last month.
• Visa runway. Good time remaining on the visa, ideally with a documented pathway to permanent residence.

Borrowing above 80% usually brings lenders mortgage insurance into the picture. Our LMI calculator shows what that costs at your price point.

Do 482 holders pay higher interest rates?

Some lenders apply rate loadings to temporary residents. Others lend at standard rates but restrict how much of the property value they will fund.

Which trade-off suits you depends on your deposit and your timeline, and that is a comparison exercise rather than a single answer. Policies change, so we confirm the current options across the panel before recommending a lender.

What income evidence do lenders want?

Income evidence is standard PAYG. Expect to provide:

• Payslips. Usually your two or three most recent.
• Employment contract. Showing tenure, salary and the sponsorship arrangement.
• Visa evidence. Your grant notice, and sometimes an employer letter confirming the nomination.
• Bank statements. Showing your savings history and account conduct.

Overseas income is heavily discounted or ignored by many lenders, so the file is built on your Australian salary.

What if my situation isn’t covered?

Lender policy for temporary residents changes without notice, and the differences between lenders are wide. A situation one lender declines, another approves at standard terms.

We confirm the current options across 30+ banks and lenders before recommending anything. If your income, visa timing or property type sits outside the patterns above, a free assessment is the fastest way to find out where you stand.

The costs of buying on a 482 visa

Buying in your own name as a temporary resident brings two costs citizens never see. One is the FIRB application fee. The other, in Queensland, is Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD) of 8% on the foreign buyer’s share of the purchase.

The FIRB fee is indicatively around $15,600 for a purchase up to $1 million (as at July 2026). Fees are indexed every 1 July, so confirm the current amount at firb.gov.au before you budget.

What the visa status costs at three price points

Here is what those two charges look like on a new build in Queensland, bought solo, on top of standard transfer duty:

Indicative only, as at July 2026. AFAD applies to the foreign buyer’s share and other states charge their own surcharges of 7% to 9%. Confirm current amounts at firb.gov.au and qro.qld.gov.au.

Run your own numbers with the foreign buyer duty calculator and the Queensland stamp duty calculator.

What a PR buyer pays for the same house

Hold the property constant and change only the buyer. On a $750,000 new build in Queensland, a permanent resident pays about $19,600 in government charges with the home concession.

A 482 holder buying the same house solo pays about $95,200 once AFAD and the FIRB fee are added. Same contract, same house, and the difference is whose name is on it.

Why these costs hit harder than they look

FIRB fees and AFAD come out of savings, not the loan. On a $650,000 purchase at 80% LVR you need a $130,000 deposit, plus roughly $67,600 in visa-status costs, plus transfer duty and legals.

That is why the buy-now-or-wait question in the PR section below deserves an actual calculation. Read More: how stamp duty concessions work for first home buyers.

Case study: buying a new townhouse on a 482 visa

Arjun is a civil engineer in Brisbane on a 482 visa, sponsored by his employer, with a $230,000 savings pool. He found a new townhouse at $680,000.

At 80% LVR his loan is $544,000 and his deposit is $136,000. As a solo temporary-resident buyer he also pays AFAD of $54,400 (8% of $680,000) plus an indicative $15,600 FIRB fee.

That puts his total cash requirement at about $206,000 before transfer duty and legals, which his savings cover with a small buffer. His sponsored role and clean credit file made the 80% approval straightforward.

We structured the contract as conditional on FIRB approval, sequenced the finance approval alongside the 30-day FIRB window, and settlement followed six weeks later.

Illustrative example, as at July 2026. Figures are rounded, exclude transfer duty and legal costs, and will differ for your situation.

The Hunter Galloway process for 482 applications

A 482 file has more moving parts than a citizen’s: FIRB timing, visa evidence and lender selection all have to line up. Here is how we run it:

1. Free assessment. We map your visa timeline, income, deposit and target purchase before anything touches a lender.
2. Buying-rights check. We confirm what you can legally buy, whether the spouse exception applies, and what FIRB will cost you.
3. Lender matching. We compare current 482 policy across our panel of 30+ banks and lenders, because a declined application sits on your credit file.
4. File preparation. We package your payslips, contract, visa grant and savings history the way the chosen lender’s credit team expects.
5. FIRB and finance in sequence. We time the loan approval around the FIRB decision window so neither approval expires waiting for the other.
6. Approval to settlement. We manage valuations, loan documents and settlement day with your solicitor.

The same team handles your next step too, whether that is a repayment check or a restructure at PR. Meet the team at Mortgage Broker Brisbane.

The PR horizon: subclass 186 after two years

The 482 carries a defined pathway to permanent residence: the Temporary Residence Transition stream to the subclass 186 visa after two years with your sponsoring employer (as at July 2026).

What changes on the day PR is granted

Permanent residence is a repricing event. At the grant:

• The FIRB requirement disappears. No application, no fee.
• AFAD disappears. The 8% Queensland surcharge no longer applies to you.
• Established homes come back into reach. The ban stops applying to you.
• Lending opens up. PRs generally borrow on the same terms as citizens, up to 95% LVR with LMI, and LMI waivers exist for some professions.
• 5% deposit schemes open. Eligible first home buyers can use the Home Guarantee Scheme; see our first home buyer loans guide and the First Home Owners Grant QLD.

Buy now or wait for the 186?

On a $750,000 purchase, buying the day after PR rather than the day before saves roughly $76,000 in government charges. Two years is close enough that the arithmetic deserves a real spreadsheet, not a shrug.

Waiting is not automatically the answer, because property prices move over two years and rent keeps running. The calculation needs your PR date, your deposit and the market you are buying into. We build it as a standard part of a free assessment.

Read More: low deposit home loans for what becomes possible once PR lands, and guarantor home loans if family support may be part of your plan.

Five mistakes 482 buyers make

These are the patterns we see most often on 482 files, and each one is avoidable:

1. Signing an unconditional contract before FIRB approval. Apply first, or make the contract conditional on approval. Contracts signed in breach can be forced to unwind.
2. Applying to a lender before checking its visa policy. A decline sits on your credit file and makes the next lender warier.
3. Budgeting the deposit but not the surcharges. FIRB fees and AFAD come out of savings, not the loan.
4. Underestimating the off-the-plan window. Your visa, income and lender policy can all move between contract and settlement, so build buffer into both.
5. Ignoring the 186 date. Buying a few months before PR can cost tens of thousands in charges that would have disappeared at the grant.

Next steps and how to apply

Work the problem in the right order. Confirm what your 482 lets you buy, then price the FIRB and duty costs against your PR date, then match the lender to your file.

Call us on 1300 088 065 or book a free assessment online. We will map the purchase rules, the costs and the loan before you sign anything.

Related guides

• Visa holder home loans: the full 2026 guide
• 494 visa home loans: the employer sponsored regional cousin of the 482
• 485 visa home loans: borrowing on a temporary graduate visa
• Partner visa home loans: the spouse exception in practice
• FIRB approval for home buyers
• Mixed-visa couples buying property