First Home Buyer Guide QLD: $30K Grant, Stamp Duty & Schemes (2026)

Queensland’s grant and duty relief make a new first home cheaper to get into, but the price still needs checking against recent sales. Build your conditions into the REIQ contract and know your number before you sign.

$30,000 First Home Owner Grant QLD

Queensland pays a $30,000 First Home Owner Grant to eligible first home buyers purchasing or building a new home, the largest state First Home Owner Grant, kept by the 2026-27 State Budget.

Eligibility requirements

• At least one applicant must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• All applicants must be 18 years or older
• No applicant can have previously owned residential property in Australia
• At least one applicant must move into the home as their principal place of residence within 1 year of the transaction completing, and live there continuously for 6 months

Eligible properties

• New homes (not previously occupied or sold as residential property) valued under $750,000, including the land and any contract variations
• Homes built under a contract or by an owner-builder, under the same $750,000 value limit
• Established properties do not qualify for the FHOG in QLD

When is the grant paid?

For purchases (e.g. off-the-plan), the grant is paid at settlement. For construction contracts, it’s paid when the first progress payment is requested by the builder. Apply through the Queensland Revenue Office or via your lender; most lenders process the FHOG alongside your loan.

Stamp duty (transfer duty) concession in QLD

Queensland’s first home buyer duty relief is now among the most generous in the country, and it runs on two tracks depending on what you buy.

New homes and vacant land: zero duty

• Eligible first home buyers pay no transfer duty on a new home, with no price cap, for contracts from 1 May 2025; the 2026-27 Budget made it permanent
• No transfer duty on vacant residential land to build your first home either, with no value cap (also from 1 May 2025)
• The property must be your first home in Australia and you must move in within the required occupancy window

Established homes: full concession to $700,000

• Full concession ($0 duty) on established homes up to $700,000, for contracts from 9 June 2024
• The concession phases out between $700,000 and $800,000
• From $800,000 there’s no first home discount: an owner-occupier pays the home concession rate, $21,850 at $800,000 (an investor would pay $29,025)

From 1 August 2026 Queensland’s home concessions need an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree. Rules checked against the Queensland Revenue Office on 14 October 2026.

See our full Queensland stamp duty guide for worked examples, and use the Stamp Duty Calculator for precise figures on your price.

Home Concession (not exclusive to first home buyers)

Queensland also applies a standard Home Concession for all owner-occupiers, not just first home buyers, so even buyers over the first-home thresholds pay less than the general rate on a home they’ll live in.

Federal schemes available in QLD

• 5% Deposit Scheme (the expanded First Home Guarantee): buy with a 5% deposit and no LMI. Since 1 October 2025 there’s no income test and no limit on places. The price cap is $1,000,000 in Greater Brisbane and the regional centres (Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast) and $700,000 in the rest of Queensland. See our 5% Deposit Scheme guide.
• Single parents and legal guardians (Family Home Guarantee): a 2% deposit, the same price caps and no income test. You don’t have to be a first home buyer, but any other home you own must be sold within 4 weeks of settling.
• Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee: closed. No new guarantees have been issued since 1 October 2025; regional buyers use the 5% Deposit Scheme at their area’s price cap.
• Help to Buy (shared equity): the government contributes up to 40% of a new home or 30% of an existing one, with a 2% minimum deposit and no LMI. For 2026–27 the income limits are $103,000 (single) and $165,000 (joint or single parent). The price cap is $1,000,000 in Brisbane and Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and $700,000 elsewhere in the state. It can’t be combined with the 5% Deposit Scheme. See Help to Buy in Queensland.
• First Home Super Saver scheme (FHSS): save part of your deposit in super with voluntary contributions, up to $15,000 a year and $50,000 in total per person, then withdraw 85% of before-tax contributions and all after-tax ones, plus deemed earnings (7.51% a year for October–December 2026). Salary sacrifice is taxed at 15% going in, and the release at your marginal rate less a 30% offset. There’s no price cap, and it combines with the other schemes. See the FHSS guide or run your numbers in the FHSS calculator.

See our national First Home Buyer Guide for full federal scheme detail and how the schemes stack with Queensland’s grant and duty relief.

QLD-specific schemes and resources

• Queensland Housing Finance Loan: For low-to-moderate income earners who can’t access a loan from a traditional lender. Administered by Homes and Housing QLD. Check eligibility at qld.gov.au/housing.
• Deposit assist (shared equity): Some QLD credit unions and building societies offer shared-equity arrangements for first home buyers. Check with your broker or lender.
• First home vacant land concession: For buyers purchasing vacant land to build their first home. No transfer duty on residential land at any value, for contracts from 1 May 2025.

Median property prices for first home buyers

South East Queensland has had significant price growth since 2020. First home buyers typically target:

• Brisbane outer suburbs: Ipswich, Logan, and Moreton Bay regions, house medians $600K to $800K
• Moreton Bay region: North Lakes, Caboolture, Redcliffe, popular FHB suburbs with medians $620K to $750K
• Gold Coast hinterland: Ormeau, Coomera, Pimpama, house medians $680K to $800K
• Regional Queensland: Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Mackay, house medians $400K to $600K with high rental yields

Browse QLD suburb profiles for current data.

The QLD buying process

QLD has some distinct features versus other states:

• REIQ contract: QLD uses the Real Estate Institute of Queensland standard contract of sale, with standard conditions for building and pest inspection, finance, and sometimes FIRB.
• Conditions are built in: Unlike NSW, building inspections and finance conditions are typically negotiated into the contract before it’s signed, rather than relying on a cooling-off window.
• Cooling-off period: 5 business days from the buyer’s receipt of the contract (residential, not auction).
• Auctions: Less common than Sydney/Melbourne. Private treaty (conditional contract) dominates in QLD.
• Settlement: Typically 30 to 60 days; via PEXA.

For the full step-by-step process, see Buying Property in Australia.

Key QLD contacts

• Queensland Revenue Office, FHOG, transfer duty, concessions: qro.qld.gov.au
• Homes and Housing QLD, Queensland Housing Finance Loan and housing assistance: qld.gov.au/housing
• Housing Australia, First Home Guarantee and federal schemes: housingaustralia.gov.au