Single income buyers are priced out of 69% of the country, but all is not lost.
Only 31% of suburbs in Australia are affordable on the average single income without going into mortgage stress, and with rising interest rates that’s only going to get worse.
Finder’s recent Singles Tax Report highlights how much harder single Australians have it than married or partnered Australians on average when it comes to savings and housing affordability.
Not only do single buyers have to prove their ability to make the mortgage repayments on just one salary, they need to be able to save a deposit: and the average first home buyer deposit reached a whopping $147,251 in December 2025.
Considering singles are also saving much less than partnered Aussies, that’s a significant target to reach.
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4 tips to get into the housing market
Supercharge your budget
Unfortunately, if you’re trying to buy your first home on your own, you might have to work a little harder than those on 2 salaries. But boy can you be proud of yourself at the other end!
Get really serious about where your money is going: cut out subscriptions, forget food deliveries and have limits in place for your social spending.
Use homebuyer support schemes
Take a look at both federal and state government support aimed at helping Aussies buy property. They’ll help you take out a home loan with a deposit as low as 5% of the property price and will often have lower threshold limits for single buyers.
The Federal Government has support for single parents to buy property with as little as a 2% deposit.
Buy with a friend
Just because you’re not in a relationship, doesn’t mean you have to buy alone. You can team up with a friend or family member to buy a home. Make sure you trust them though and that you have the same goals around owning property. For example, are you both happy to buy an investment property or would you rather live in the home?
Use a guarantor
A guarantor home loan is where someone else (usually a close family member) provides an extra layer of security for your home loan. This allows you to borrow a much higher loan-to-value ratio (e.g. you won’t need as high a deposit) without paying lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI).
This also requires a particular level of trust, as if you’re unable to repay your home loan the guarantor will be on the hook.
See all of the insights in the full Singles Tax Report.