The average new owner-occupier home loan in Australia is $735,000. That's the Australian Bureau of Statistics figure for the March quarter of 2026, published in its Lending Indicators release on 13 May 2026, and it's the number every comparison table you've seen is quoting, rounding or repackaging. We pulled it from the ABS release itself, along with the state-by-state table, the first home buyer figure and the trend, and this page is updated within days of each quarterly release. The next one lands on 14 August 2026.
Why be fussy about the source? Because this particular query is littered with stale numbers. One page still ranking on Google quotes a 2018 average of $388,100, barely half the current figure, and another widely-cited guide was last audited in July 2024 at $626,055. If you're budgeting off a number like that, you're planning for a market that no longer exists.
Last updated 23 July 2026. Average new owner-occupier loan: $735,000 nationally (ABS, March quarter 2026). First home buyers average $614,048. NSW is the highest state at $860,000, Tasmania the lowest at $521,000. At current big-4 variable rates, the national average loan costs roughly $4,400 to $4,620 a month over 30 years. Next ABS update: 14 August 2026; this page follows within days.
What the Headline Number Actually Counts
Three things worth knowing before you compare yourself to it.
It counts new loans, not existing ones. The ABS averages the home loans written in the quarter, so it reflects what today's buyers are borrowing at today's prices, not what the typical household still owes on a loan from 2016.
It's the owner-occupier average. Investors are measured separately, and their average new loan in the same quarter was $709,000. If you see a slightly different "average mortgage" quoted from the same ABS release, $724,415, that's the weighted average across all new home loans, owner-occupiers and investors together; the ABS's own head of finance statistics quoted that figure as 9.0% higher than a year earlier. Same release, different slice. We lead with the owner-occupier number because that's what most readers of this site are.
It's a mean, not a median. Means get pulled upward by very large loans, and the ABS doesn't publish a median new-loan size at all. So the "typical" buyer probably borrows somewhat less than $735,000; how much less isn't knowable from the published data, and anyone who gives you a precise median for new Australian mortgages is making it up.
Average Mortgage by State (March Quarter 2026)
All loan figures are the ABS state averages for new owner-occupier loans. The repayment column is our own calculation at 5.99%, the lowest advertised big-4 variable rate in July 2026, over 30 years principal and interest.
| State | Average new loan (ABS) | Monthly repayment at 5.99% |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | $860,000 | $5,151 |
| QLD | $741,000 | $4,438 |
| WA | $703,000 | $4,210 |
| VIC | $675,000 | $4,043 |
| ACT | $665,000 | $3,983 |
| SA | $664,000 | $3,977 |
| NT | $536,000 | $3,210 |
| TAS | $521,000 | $3,120 |
| Australia | $735,000 | $4,402 |
Two things stand out. Queensland has overtaken Victoria by a comfortable $66,000, a reversal that would have sounded absurd a decade ago. And NSW remains in a league of its own: the average new loan in NSW is $860,000, which is $125,000 above the national average before anyone has bought so much as a couch.
The First Home Buyer Average: $614,048
Buried in the same ABS release is the number that matters most to readers of this site: the average loan for owner-occupier first home buyers was $614,048 in the March quarter, up 1.1% ($6,425) on the quarter before. That modest rise followed a striking one: the ABS notes the FHB average jumped 8.5% ($47,375) in the December quarter, the three months after the Australian Government's 5% Deposit Scheme was expanded with no income caps and no place limits. More buying power, bigger loans, almost immediately.
The volume story: 30,241 first home buyer loan commitments in the quarter. That's down 4.3% on the December quarter but 5.0% higher than the same quarter a year ago, and by our own calculation it means first home buyers took out 36.7% of all new owner-occupier loans, more than one in three. The total value of FHB lending was $17.9 billion, which is, coincidentally, also 17.9% higher than a year earlier.
One methodological footnote you'll never see on a comparison site: you can't derive the FHB average by dividing that $17.9 billion by the 30,241 loans, because the count is seasonally adjusted while the average is an original series. The ABS publishes the average directly, and $614,048 is it.
The Trend: Up 11% in a Year, Flat This Quarter
| Period | National average (ABS) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| March quarter 2024 | $609,000 | |
| March quarter 2025 | $660,000 | +8.4% in a year |
| December quarter 2025 | $736,000 | |
| March quarter 2026 | $735,000 | +11.4% in a year; slightly down on the quarter |
The honest read: the average has climbed $126,000, or 20.7%, in two years, but the latest quarter was flat, a $1,000 dip from December's $736,000 peak. Through 2025 the quarterly path ran $678,000 (June), $694,000 (September), $736,000 (December): a steep run-up that coincided with the 5% Deposit Scheme expansion and the RBA's rate cuts of 2025, followed by a pause as 2026's three rate hikes bit. Whether the March quarter is a plateau or a turning point is exactly what the 14 August release will start to answer.
What the Average Loan Costs Per Month
These are our own calculations, standard 30-year principal-and-interest amortisation, at the two ends of the advertised big-4 variable range in July 2026 (5.99% to 6.44%).
| Loan | At 5.99% | At 6.44% |
|---|---|---|
| National average, $735,000 | $4,402/month ($52,824/year) | $4,617/month ($55,401/year) |
| First home buyer average, $614,048 | $3,678/month | $3,857/month |
For scale: full-time average weekly ordinary earnings were $2,051.10 in the latest ABS reading (November 2025), about $106,700 a year. The repayment on the national average loan is 49.5% of one such income, 24.8% of a dual-income household on those earnings, and 29.2% of a household on two median full-time wages. Those are arithmetic ratios, not lending assessments; banks stress-test at higher rates and count your actual expenses, which is why the loan you can service and the loan a bank will give you are different numbers. Our borrowing power calculator shows the bank's version of that maths for your own income.
Why Other Pages Quote Different Numbers
- They're stale. The average moves fast enough that a 2024 figure is $100,000 out of date. Check the reference period before trusting any number, including ours; the period for everything on this page is the March quarter of 2026.
- They mix the slices. Owner-occupier ($735,000), investor ($709,000) and all-loans ($724,415) averages all come from the same release and get quoted interchangeably.
- Mean versus outstanding balances. New-loan averages describe today's buyers. Surveys of existing mortgages, what households still owe, produce much smaller numbers because most mortgages are years into repayment. Different question, different answer.
- Seasonally adjusted versus original. ABS publishes both; they differ, and mixing them produces numbers that don't reconcile.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average mortgage in Australia in 2026?
The average new owner-occupier home loan is $735,000, per the ABS Lending Indicators release for the March quarter of 2026 (published 13 May 2026). Across all new home loans including investors, the average is $724,415. These figures describe new loans written in the quarter, not what existing households still owe.
What is the average mortgage for first home buyers?
$614,048 nationally in the March quarter of 2026, per the ABS. That's up 1.1% on the previous quarter, which itself jumped 8.5% after the 5% Deposit Scheme expanded in late 2025. First home buyers accounted for 30,241 new loan commitments in the quarter, about 36.7% of all new owner-occupier loans.
What is the monthly repayment on the average Australian mortgage?
Roughly $4,400 to $4,620 a month. On the $735,000 national average over 30 years principal and interest, the repayment is $4,402 a month at 5.99% (the lowest advertised big-4 variable rate in July 2026) and $4,617 at 6.44% (the highest). On the first home buyer average of $614,048, it's about $3,678 to $3,857 a month.
Which state has the biggest average mortgage?
NSW, at $860,000 for a new owner-occupier loan in the March quarter of 2026, $125,000 above the national average. Queensland is next at $741,000, having overtaken Victoria ($675,000). Tasmania has the smallest average at $521,000.
Is the average mortgage in Australia rising?
Over any 12-month window, yes: the average new owner-occupier loan rose 11.4% in the year to March 2026 and is up 20.7% over two years. But the most recent quarter was essentially flat, dipping $1,000 from the December 2025 peak of $736,000, as 2026's three RBA rate hikes cooled borrowing. The next ABS release, on 14 August 2026, will show whether that pause held.
Wondering how your own numbers compare? Our borrowing power calculator estimates what a lender would offer on your income, and the eligibility checker shows every 2026 scheme you qualify for in about two minutes. And if you're at the point of turning a number into an approval, a broker can run your scenario across dozens of lenders for free; they're paid by the lender, not you. This page is general information from published statistics, not personal financial advice; every figure above carries its source and reference period, and we update within days of each quarterly ABS release.
