Visa Holders & Permanent Residents: Buying Property in Australia [2026 Guide]

Quick answer: who can buy what in Australia right now

Find your row first. Every section below explains one part of it.

As at July 2026. FIRB conditions apply to each approval (for example, vacant land approvals carry development conditions). State surcharges vary outside Queensland, and government policy can change without notice. Check your own position with our visa buying eligibility tool.

Find the guide for your visa

This is the hub page. The detail for each visa subclass lives in its own guide. The fastest route to an answer is to go straight to yours.

Guides by visa subclass

Guides by situation

• Buying with an Australian citizen or PR partner: who goes on the title decides the duty bill. Read the mixed-visa couples guide.
• Australian citizen or PR living overseas: no ban, no FIRB, but lenders shade foreign income. Read the Australian expat home loans guide.
• New Zealand citizen: most Kiwis living here buy on near-local terms. Read the New Zealand citizen home loan guide.
• Need government approval to buy: the process, the fees and the auction trap are in our FIRB approval guide.
• Not sure what your visa allows: get a quick read with the visa buying eligibility checker.
• Want the duty numbers for your purchase: run them through the foreign buyer duty calculator.

The foreign buyer ban: 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029

From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign persons cannot buy established dwellings in Australia. Under the foreign investment rules, temporary residents count as foreign persons.

That second sentence is the one that catches people. You might live here, work here and pay tax here. But a 482, 485, 491, student or bridging visa holder buying alone cannot buy an established home until at least 30 June 2029.

What counts as an established home?

Broadly, any dwelling that has previously been sold or occupied as a home. The classic Queenslander, the ex-rental unit and the deceased-estate auction property are all established.

The Australian Taxation Office administers the framework for residential property. Penalties for buying without approval or in breach of the ban are severe. Contracts signed in breach can be forced to unwind.

Who the ban does not apply to

Australian citizens, permanent residents, and New Zealand citizens on a Special Category subclass 444 visa who are ordinarily resident in Australia are exempt. They face no ban, no FIRB requirement and no Queensland foreign buyer duty.

If that is you, the question is which lender treats you best, not whether you can buy. Kiwis should start with our New Zealand citizen home loan guide.

What the ban leaves open

The ban covers established dwellings only. New builds, off-the-plan apartments and vacant land remain open to temporary residents through the normal FIRB approval process.

The ban also attaches to the buyer’s status. Joint purchases with an Australian spouse are treated differently. Both pathways are covered next.

The three pathways that remain

Three pathways stay open to temporary residents during the ban. They are listed here in the order most people should consider them.

Pathway 1: new dwellings, off-the-plan and vacant land, with FIRB approval

Temporary residents and foreign non-residents can still buy property that adds to Australia’s housing stock. That means a brand-new house or apartment that has never been sold or occupied, an off-the-plan purchase, or vacant land you commit to building on.

Each purchase needs FIRB approval before you sign an unconditional contract. The application fee scales with the price. A purchase up to $1 million sits in a tier around $15,600 as at July 2026.

Queensland then adds Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD) of 8% of the foreign person’s share of the dutiable value. The worked example further down puts real figures on both charges.

Three practical notes from files we have run:

• Sequence matters. Apply for FIRB approval before you commit, or make the contract conditional on it. Signing unconditionally and hoping is how buyers end up in breach.
• Off-the-plan has a long gap. Your visa, your income and lender policy can all move between contract and settlement, so build buffer into the finance and the timeline.
• Land comes with build conditions. Approvals typically require construction within a set period, so the land-and-build route only suits buyers ready to build.

Read More: FIRB approval for home buyers covers the process, the timeframes and the conditions in detail.

Pathway 2: buying jointly with an Australian partner

A temporary resident can buy with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen spouse or de facto partner, as joint tenants. This purchase generally does not need FIRB approval. The established-home ban does not block the purchase either.

The exception exists because Parliament never intended to stop Australian families buying family homes. It works only when the structure is right, meaning joint tenants, a genuine spousal relationship, and the right names on the contract.

Read More: mixed-visa couples buying property in Australia covers ownership splits, duty on the foreign partner’s share, and lender policy on mixed-status applicants.

Pathway 3: waiting for permanent residency

If PR is within reach, waiting can be the highest-return financial decision available to you. Permanent residency changes five things at once:

• The FIRB application fee no longer applies.
• AFAD no longer applies in Queensland.
• The established-home ban stops applying to you.
• High-LVR lending reopens, up to 95% with lenders mortgage insurance.
• The 5% deposit Home Guarantee Scheme opens up for eligible first home buyers.

The same $750,000 purchase can cost roughly $76,000 less in government charges the day after your grant than the day before.

Waiting is not automatically right, because property prices move while you wait. The decision has three inputs: the charges you would avoid, your realistic PR timeline, and what your market is likely to do over that timeline.

If PR is six months away and the saving is $76,000, waiting almost always wins. If PR is three years and two visa renewals away, buying now may still make sense. A new build with the surcharge priced in can beat paying rent while prices move. We build that comparison for visa-holder clients as a standard part of a free assessment.

Permanent residents: treated as locals, with two exceptions

A permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in Australia needs no FIRB approval, faces no established-home ban, and pays no AFAD in Queensland. Lenders generally lend to PRs on the same terms as citizens, up to 95% LVR with lenders mortgage insurance.

PRs are also eligible for the 5% deposit Home Guarantee Scheme, which lets eligible first home buyers purchase with no LMI. Our LMI calculator shows what that waiver is worth in dollars, and it is usually five figures.

Exception 1: mixed-status couples lose the Home Guarantee Scheme

The scheme requires every borrower on the loan to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or NZ 444 holder. One temporary-resident borrower makes the couple ineligible, no matter how strong the eligible partner’s file is.

Exception 2: lender policy on mixed-status couples varies widely

As at July 2026, one major bank requires a temporary-resident co-buyer to hold at least a 30% ownership share. Only then will it lend to the couple at all. Others take the opposite view and prefer the temporary resident to hold a minimal share.

Policies in this space change without notice. Checking current policy across a panel, rather than one bank’s rulebook, is where a broker earns the fee the lender pays them.

Citizens and PRs living overseas

You are exempt from the ban and from FIRB, but lenders assess foreign income and expat files under separate policies. Start with our Australian expat home loans guide.

What “ordinarily resident” means

The exemptions hang off this definition. For foreign investment purposes, a permanent resident counts as ordinarily resident after 200 days in Australia in the preceding 12 months. Their continued stay must also have no time limit.

A freshly granted PR who has spent most of the past year offshore may not clear that bar yet. FIRB and surcharge questions can still be live after the grant. Check the definition against your own travel dates before you assume the exemptions apply.

What lenders will offer temporary residents

Lending policy is the second wall, and it is a softer one. Banks price two risks on a temporary visa. The first is that you leave the country before the loan is repaid. The second is that your right to work has an expiry date.

As at July 2026, the result across most of the market looks like this:

• Deposit: most lenders cap temporary residents at 80% LVR, meaning a 20% deposit plus costs. A handful will stretch to 90% or 95% for a strong file. That typically means a long-dated visa with a clear PR pathway, a professional occupation and clean credit.
• Income evidence: expect full documentation, including payslips and an employment contract showing tenure and visa sponsorship where relevant. Lenders also want a work history that matches your visa conditions. Many lenders heavily discount or ignore overseas income.
• Pricing: some lenders apply rate loadings to temporary residents, while others lend at standard rates but restrict the LVR. Which trade-off suits you depends on your deposit and timeline.
• Visa runway: most lenders want meaningful time remaining on the visa at application. They treat renewable or PR-pathway visas more generously than fixed-term ones.

A temporary visa is a matching problem, not a dead end. The lender that is cautious about a 485 graduate can be comfortable with a sponsored 482 professional, and vice versa.

What sinks visa-holder applications is usually applying to the wrong lender first. A declined application sits on your credit file and makes the next lender warier. So the first attempt should go to the right door.

Typical maximum LVR by subclass

Policy differs by subclass because the risk differs by subclass. Each row links to the dedicated guide for that visa.

Indicative only, as at July 2026. Lender policies for temporary residents change without notice and every application is assessed case-by-case. We confirm current policy with the lender before you apply.

The costs, side by side: one $750,000 new build, three buyers

The clearest way to see what visa status is worth is to hold the property constant and change only the buyer. Same $750,000 brand-new house in Queensland, bought as a home to live in, three different buyers:

Same house, and roughly a $76,000 difference in government charges, driven entirely by whose name is on the contract.

The AFAD and FIRB figures are indicative as at July 2026, and both fee schedules are indexed. Confirm current amounts at firb.gov.au and qro.qld.gov.au before you rely on them.

To run your own numbers, use our foreign buyer duty calculator and Queensland stamp duty calculator, then check where you stand with the visa buying eligibility tool.

The loan side of the same comparison

The PR couple can borrow to 95% LVR with LMI. They can also buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI at all, under the Home Guarantee Scheme, if they are eligible first home buyers.

The 482 holder buying solo is realistically shopping at 80% LVR. That means a 20% deposit plus about $95,200 in government charges before a single dollar goes toward the house.

The mixed couple lands in between. Whether both names go on the loan, and in what ownership split, is where lender policy diverges most. That is also where the right structure is worth real money.

Next steps and how to apply

Work the problem in this order:

1. Establish what your visa status legally lets you purchase until 30 June 2029.
2. Decide whether a structure (the spouse pathway) or a waiting strategy (PR) changes that.
3. Then find the lender whose current policy fits your visa and your deposit.

Most buyers do it backwards. They shop for a lender first and discover the purchase rules second, usually after falling for an established house they cannot legally buy.

We run this process every week for visa holders, permanent residents and mixed-status couples across our panel of lenders. Book a free assessment or call 1300 088 065. We will map the purchase rules, the costs and the loan before you sign anything.

Information as at July 2026. Lender and government policies change without notice and are assessed case-by-case. This is general information, not credit or legal advice. Title and duty structuring has legal and tax consequences, so we work alongside your solicitor and accountant.