How Government Rules Shape the Property Market
🏦 Home Loans
Lenders test borrowers at 3.0 percentage points above the loan rate. At June 2026 rates, that reduces the largest loan a borrower can get by 25.2%.
Policy register🏠 Social Housing
Social housing was 3.98% of all homes at 30 June 2025, its lowest share since the record began in 2012.
Well below average🏘️ Planning Approvals
Townhouses, units and apartments were 38.7% of homes approved in the June quarter 2026, below their long-run average.
Below average💰 Stamp Duty
Duty collected in 2024–25 was 0.303% of the value of all homes, close to its average since 2011–12.
About average🌏 Foreign Buyers
On a new $1,000,000 home, extra duty and fees add 1.56% to 10.56%, by state. Established homes have been closed to foreign buyers since 1 April 2025.
Policy register🏗️ Public Home Building
Government-owned homes were 2.2% of new homes started in the June quarter 2026. Taken with completions, the reading is a little above its usual level.
Near average🌿 Energy Standards
The 2022 code’s 7-star rating applies in most states, from dates between October 2023 and May 2025.
Register in design📋 Tenancy Rules
The laws for renting a home differ in each state and territory.
Register in designNot every area of policy can be measured the same way, so the series uses three kinds of measure.
A standardised reading above zero means the measure is higher than its usual level; below zero means lower. The usual level is the average over a baseline period, mostly 2011 to 2025. Each reading also has a position from 0 to 100 showing where it sits against its own history. Where a measure has fewer than 20 periods of history, the position is an estimate and is labelled as one.
To get a home loan, you need to show you could afford the repayments at an interest rate 3.0 percentage points above the rate on the loan. This is the serviceability buffer, set by APRA.
The buffer was set at 2.0 percentage points in December 2014, raised to 2.5 in July 2019, and to 3.0 in October 2021. Since 1 February 2026, a second rule has limited loans to borrowers whose debts are six or more times their income to 20% of each bank’s new owner-occupier lending and 20% of its new investor lending; loans for new homes are exempt.
At the average rate on new owner-occupier variable loans in June 2026, 6.25%, testing at 9.25% reduces the largest loan a borrower can be approved for by 25.2%. A borrower on a lower rate faces a smaller reduction, and one on a higher rate a larger one.
Social housing — homes owned or managed by governments and not-for-profit providers for people on low incomes — is an important safety net. When it grows more slowly than housing overall, more lower-income households look for homes in private rental instead.
Borrowing rules work on the same market from the other end: people who would like to buy but cannot yet get a large enough loan rent for longer. Both groups look for homes in the same rental market.
APN reads the planning system by what it approves: the share of new homes approved that are townhouses, units and apartments rather than detached houses. A higher share means the system is approving more medium- and high-density homes.
In the June quarter 2026, 53,726 homes were approved, 32,909 of them detached houses — the most houses approved in a quarter since September 2021. Townhouses, units and apartments were 38.7% of the total, below their average of 41.3% since 2011. The share fell because more houses were approved; the number of other homes approved was close to its usual level.
Stamp duty. APN measures the duty collected by all states and territories as a share of the value of every home in Australia. In 2024–25 it was 0.303%, close to its average of 0.306% since 2011–12. The duty figure covers all property sales, including offices and shops, while the value covers homes only, so the measure shows the trend rather than the exact burden on home buyers.
Foreign buyers. A foreign person buying a new home pays a Commonwealth application fee and, in most states, a surcharge on stamp duty. For a $1,000,000 new home in the September quarter 2026, these add between 1.56% and 10.56% to the price, highest in New South Wales. From 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, foreign persons, including temporary residents, cannot buy an established home except in narrow cases.
The 2022 National Construction Code requires a new home to reach a 7-star energy rating and meet a whole-of-home energy budget. Each state and territory chose when to adopt it:
| State or territory | Energy standards for new homes |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | Through BASIX, the state’s own sustainability standard, from 1 October 2023 |
| Australian Capital Territory | From 15 January 2024 |
| Victoria | From 1 May 2024 |
| Queensland | Through the Queensland Development Code; required since 1 May 2024 |
| South Australia | From 1 October 2024 |
| Western Australia | From 1 May 2025 |
| Tasmania | Not adopted |
| Northern Territory | Housing limited to a 5-star requirement, from 1 October 2023 |
APN will record these settings, and each state’s and territory’s tenancy laws, as registers. Until each is built, no reading is published for these two areas.
- Borrowing limits are set by rule. The buffer and the debt-to-income limit stay until APRA changes them.
- Social housing’s share keeps falling. It has fallen in every year since 2012, and more lower-income households look to private rental as a result.
- Approvals have tilted toward houses in 2026. Watch whether that continues in the September quarter figures.
- Check the state. Energy standards, tenancy laws, stamp duty and foreign buyer surcharges all differ by state and territory.
- Foreign buyer rules are temporary in part. The ban on buying established homes is scheduled to end on 30 June 2029.
