494 Visa Home Loans: Buying on the Regional Sponsored Visa [2026 Guide]

Yes, a 494 visa holder can buy property in Australia, with conditions. Until 30 June 2029 you are limited to new dwellings, off-the-plan purchases or vacant land.

Every purchase in your own name needs FIRB approval, and lenders will read your purchase location against your regional visa conditions.

Typical lending sits around 80% of the property value, with some lenders considering more for strong files (as at July 2026).

This guide covers what the 494 lets you buy and why sponsorship plus a five-year term helps with lenders. It also covers the Queensland costs and the subclass 191 pathway.

For the cross-visa picture, start with our visa holder home loans guide or the visa buying eligibility tool.

The 494 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 494 visa

The purchase rules for 494 holders are the standard temporary-resident ones, plus a location question specific to regional visas. Both are covered below.

The foreign buyer ban and what it leaves open

The federal ban on temporary residents purchasing established dwellings applies from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, and 494 holders are within it.

That leaves three property types, each still requiring FIRB approval before you sign:

• New dwellings. Never sold or occupied as a home before.
• Off-the-plan apartments and townhouses. With a long gap between contract and settlement to plan around.
• Vacant land you commit to building on. Approvals carry construction deadlines, so this route suits buyers genuinely ready to build.

The regional condition and your purchase location

Like the 491, the 494 carries a regional condition: you are sponsored to work in a designated regional area. Lenders review where you are buying against that.

A home in the region where your sponsoring employer operates supports the file. A purchase somewhere inconsistent with your visa conditions invites questions from the lender and deserves migration advice first.

Buying with an Australian partner

The exception is a joint purchase, as joint tenants, with a spouse or de facto partner. They must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. That route needs no FIRB approval and puts established homes back on the table.

In Queensland, foreign buyer duty can still apply to your share even inside that exception, because the FIRB rules and the duty rules are separate regimes. Our guide to mixed-visa couples buying property walks through the title options and what each costs.

What lenders will offer a 494 visa holder

The 494 hands you two useful cards with lenders. This section explains both, plus the paperwork and the fallback if your file is unusual.

Card one: employer sponsorship

The 494 is employer-sponsored, which some lenders read as employment stability. Your employer has invested in nominating you, and that is the same quiet advantage 482 holders enjoy.

Banks price two risks on a temporary visa: departure before the loan is repaid, and income with an expiry date. A sponsoring employer and a defined PR pathway soften both.

Card two: the five-year runway

The 494 runs for five years, giving lenders a longer visa runway than most temporary visas offer. Time remaining on the visa strengthens the application.

Compare that with the 485 graduate visa, where the short runway is the single biggest hurdle to approval.

How much can I borrow?

Typical lending sits around 80% of the property value, so plan for a 20% deposit plus purchase costs. Some lenders will consider more for strong files. Set your savings target with the deposit calculator.

Lending above 80% generally brings lenders mortgage insurance with it. Price it at your purchase level with the LMI calculator.

Do sponsored visa holders pay higher rates?

Some lenders apply rate loadings to temporary residents, sponsored or not. 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 191 timeline. We confirm the current options across the panel before recommending a lender.

What income evidence do lenders want?

Income evidence is standard PAYG:

• Payslips. Usually your two or three most recent.
• Employment contract. With your sponsoring regional employer, showing role, salary and location.
• Visa evidence. Your grant notice, and sometimes an employer letter confirming the nomination.
• Bank statements. Showing genuine savings and clean account conduct.

What if my situation isn’t covered?

Lender appetite for regional sponsored visas varies widely and changes without notice, and a declined application sits on your credit file. The first application needs to go to the right lender.

We compare current 494 policy across 30+ banks and lenders before recommending one. If your income, region or visa timing is unusual, start with a free assessment.

The costs of buying on a 494 visa

Buying in your own name as a temporary resident brings the FIRB application fee, indicatively around $15,600 for a purchase up to $1 million (as at July 2026). In Queensland it also brings Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD) of 8% on the foreign buyer’s share, on top of standard transfer duty.

FIRB fees are indexed every 1 July, so confirm the current amount at firb.gov.au before you budget.

The visa-status costs at three price points

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.

What a PR buyer pays for the same house

On a $750,000 new build in Queensland, a permanent resident pays about $19,600 in government charges with the home concession. A 494 holder buying the same house solo pays about $95,200.

The subclass 191 grant closes that gap in one step, which is why we price the wait in every 494 assessment.

Regional purchase prices keep the dollar figures lower than the capital cities, but 8% is still 8%. Model your own purchase with the foreign buyer duty calculator and the Queensland stamp duty calculator.

Case study: buying now with eyes open in Rockhampton

Sipho is a heavy-vehicle mechanic in Rockhampton on a 494 visa, sponsored by his employer, with $175,000 saved. He found a new build at $520,000, and his subclass 191 date was about two years away.

At 80% LVR his loan is $416,000 and his deposit is $104,000. Buying now also means AFAD of $41,600 plus an indicative $15,600 FIRB fee, about $57,200 in visa-status costs.

We priced the wait: two more years of rent at $560 a week is roughly $58,000. There is no guarantee the same house would still cost $520,000 in 2028.

Sipho bought now, with the contract conditional on FIRB approval and the purchase sitting squarely in his sponsored region. The costs were real, and so was the reasoning.

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 494 applications

A 494 file works when the visa conditions, the FIRB approval and the lender policy all point the same way. Here is how we sequence it:

1. Free assessment. We map your visa dates, sponsored region, income and deposit before anything is lodged.
2. Buying-rights check. What you can buy, whether the spouse exception applies, and the FIRB and AFAD bill at your price point.
3. Location check. We confirm the purchase sits in your sponsored regional area, and refer you for migration advice if it does not.
4. Lender matching. Current 494 policy compared across 30+ banks and lenders, because the first application needs to be the right one.
5. FIRB and finance in sequence. Contract conditional on FIRB, loan approval timed around the 30-day decision window.
6. Approval to settlement. Valuation, loan documents and settlement day, managed with your solicitor.

Check repayments on your target loan with the mortgage calculator before you set your price ceiling.

The PR horizon: subclass 191 after three years

The 494 leads to permanent residence through the subclass 191 visa after three years of holding the visa, living and working in a designated regional area. There is no minimum income requirement, but primary applicants must provide ATO notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of their eligible visa.

Three years is a predictable runway, which makes the buy-now-versus-wait calculation unusually concrete on this visa.

What changes on the day PR is granted

• The FIRB requirement disappears. No application, no fee.
• AFAD disappears. Queensland’s 8% surcharge stops applying 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 some professions qualify for LMI waivers.
• First home buyer support opens. 5% deposit schemes, the First Home Owners Grant QLD and stamp duty concessions. See our first home buyer loans guide.

Buy now or wait for the 191?

On a $750,000 purchase, buying after PR rather than before saves roughly $76,000 in government charges. At regional prices the saving is smaller in dollars but identical in principle.

The comparison needs three inputs: the charges you would avoid, your realistic 191 date, and what your local market is likely to do in between. We run it against your actual numbers in a free assessment.

Read More: low deposit home loans for the post-PR menu, and guarantor home loans if family support may be part of the plan.

Five mistakes 494 buyers make

The sponsored regional files that go wrong usually fail on one of these:

1. Buying outside the sponsored region. Lenders check the purchase location against your visa conditions, and a mismatch deserves migration advice before contract.
2. Assuming sponsorship guarantees approval. It strengthens the file. It does not replace clean credit, genuine savings and a workable deposit.
3. Signing an unconditional contract before FIRB approval. Apply first, or make the contract conditional. Contracts signed in breach can be forced to unwind.
4. Budgeting the deposit but not the surcharges. FIRB fees and AFAD come out of savings, not the loan.
5. Ignoring the 191 date. Three years is a predictable runway, and skipping the buy-now-versus-wait maths can cost tens of thousands.

Next steps and how to apply

Confirm what your 494 lets you buy, and check the purchase sits in your sponsored region. Then price FIRB and AFAD against your 191 date, and 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
• 491 visa home loans: the points-tested regional visa with the same 191 pathway
• 482 visa home loans: employer sponsorship without the regional condition
• Partner visa home loans: the spouse exception in practice
• FIRB approval for home buyers
• Mixed-visa couples buying property