494 visa home loans: buying in regional Australia

The Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa lasts five years. It can lead to permanent residency through subclass 191 if you meet the requirements. Compare buying now with waiting if you are approaching eligibility.

Compare options in our visa home loan guide or visa buying checker.

Foreign investors are generally prohibited from buying established homes from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. Limited exceptions apply. A 494 is provisional, so planning to stay does not give you the permanent-resident exemption.

Get required approval before committing, or ask your solicitor to make the contract suitably conditional. Our FIRB approval guide explains the process. With an off-the-plan purchase, the lender will also need to accept your visa and income when settlement approaches.

The regional condition applies to where you live, work and study in Australia. Home Affairs defines designated regional areas broadly: they include Australia outside Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Check the actual postcode and your grant conditions before choosing a home.

For the employer-sponsored stream, you generally work for your sponsor or an associated entity in your nominated occupation, unless an exception applies. Check those employment conditions separately.

Your employer’s town boundary is not necessarily the visa boundary. A regional postcode alone also cannot confirm that your living and work arrangements comply. Get migration advice before moving or changing employment.

The lender also assesses the property and income. Our 491 visa guide covers the other main regional provisional visa.

You may be exempt from FIRB approval when buying as joint tenants with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen spouse. A qualifying de facto relationship can also count. Your solicitor should confirm the relationship and ownership requirements.

Queensland foreign buyer duty may still apply to your share. If your citizen or PR spouse will own the home alone, we can check whether a lender accepts both incomes with you as a non-owner borrower. That needs specific 494 confirmation.

Our mixed-visa couples guide compares the ownership options. The partner visa guide explains a different visa category, so its lending policies cannot automatically be applied to a 494.

Loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is the loan as a percentage of the property value the lender accepts. At 80% LVR, you contribute 20% towards the price plus costs, assuming the valuation matches the price. A lower valuation needs more cash.

Our visa lender comparison records these subclass 494 positions, checked 7 October 2026. We would confirm the current policy for your application before recommending a lender.

Check what your income can support, then use our lender reviews to compare rates and features. Allow for fees and any lenders mortgage insurance alongside the deposit requirement. Use our deposit calculator and LMI calculator for estimates.

The lender checks your sponsorship, visa term, income and repayments. Check policy before lodging applications. A credit enquiry can appear on your credit report, but it does not record whether the loan was approved or declined.

Additional foreign acquirer duty (AFAD) is generally 8% of the value of the foreign buyer’s share. For 2026-27, the FIRB application fee for a new home or residential land priced from $75,000 to $1 million is $15,600. Different price bands and exemptions can change the fee.

These figures exclude your deposit, ordinary transfer duty, legal fees, registration and loan costs. They assume no exemption or relief. Other states have different surcharge rules.

For Queensland transactions from 1 August 2026, a 494 holder generally cannot claim home or first-home transfer duty concessions. Each buyer’s share can receive different treatment. Your solicitor should calculate duty using the actual contract date and buyers.

Start with our foreign buyer duty calculator and Queensland stamp duty calculator, then confirm the amounts before signing.

Sipho is a heavy-vehicle mechanic on a 494 visa, sponsored by his employer in Rockhampton. He has $175,000 saved and is considering a new home for $520,000. Assuming an 80% LVR loan and sole ownership, his budget looks like this:

Ordinary transfer duty at the general rates is $16,625 on this price. That puts him $2,825 short before legal, registration and loan costs. I would revisit the budget before he makes an offer.

If he waits two years, rent at $560 a week would total $58,240, assuming no increase. That is only one side of the comparison: buying brings interest and ownership costs, property prices can change, and a future PR grant date is uncertain.

Subclass 191 requires you to have held an eligible visa for at least three years and complied with its conditions. You need ATO notices of assessment for three income years out of the five years of the eligible visa. Home Affairs states there is no minimum income requirement. A lender will still assess whether your income covers the loan.

Ask a registered migration agent to check your eligibility and allow for application processing. Reaching three years does not give you a confirmed PR grant date.

For a future purchase after PR, foreign-investment approval and Queensland AFAD may no longer apply. Those two items total $75,600 on the $750,000 new-home example above. Ordinary duty and any concessions need a fresh calculation. If PR may arrive between contract and settlement, ask your solicitor which status date matters.

PR can also open more low deposit loan options and LMI waivers for eligible professions. Check the separate rules for the Queensland First Home Owner Grant and other help in our first home buyer guide. Family support may be worth discussing through a guarantor loan.

For the 186 Temporary Residence Transition (TRT) route, eligible sponsored employment can span sponsors. Neither route guarantees a grant or a loan. Our 482 visa home loan guide explains the comparison, while 485 graduate visa holders need their own lender and expiry checks.

We check borrowing options, then coordinate finance with your solicitor and any required FIRB approval. Allow time for conditions, valuation and loan documents. Use our mortgage calculator to check the repayments at your target loan amount.

Send us your visa details, income, savings and target property, including who will own it. You can also call 1300 088 065.