Home help

The property market downturn has been a gift for first-time buyers. Home values nationally have fallen 7% over the past 12 months but in our most expensive cities, Sydney and Melbourne, they have dipped by 11% and 10% respectively That’s giving first homeowners some real buying power. But a helping hand can still be essential to get a foot on the property ladder, and there are plenty of ways parents can get involved.

Know the basics

As a first timer, a key rule of thumb is to understand where you stand in terms of your buying power at an early stage. It may not be necessary, for example, to have a 20% deposit.

“These days no lenders offer no-deposit