Buying the home you'll move back into

By Walter Aldridge, Mortgage Broker at Hypothèque · Updated 2026-11-05 · 6 min read

You can buy your future Australian home from abroad, but the clock you are really working to is the date you land.

The short version

Australian citizens living overseas do not need foreign investment approval to buy residential property [1].
In NSW, an Australian citizen is never a "foreign person" for surcharge purchaser duty, wherever they live [2]. Other states have their own rules, so check yours.
First home concessions usually come with move-in rules. In NSW, you must move in within 12 months of settlement and live there for 12 continuous months to keep the transfer duty exemption [3].
The federal 5% deposit scheme has had no income caps or place limits since 1 October 2025, but it is for owner-occupiers who actually live in the home [4].
Lenders will assess you on your overseas income today, not the Australian job you hope to have next year.

Why buy before you come back?

Some returning Australians want somewhere to land that isn't a mate's spare room or a three-month rental. Others are watching prices in a suburb they love and don't want to wait. And for some, a foreign salary is the strongest borrowing position they will ever have.

There are good reasons to wait, too. You can't walk the street at night, you may not know which school catchment you need, and if your return date slips, you will own a house you can't live in. Neither choice is wrong. The point is to pick one deliberately.

Buy before you return	Buy after you return
Keys ready when you land	You can inspect in person and get to know the area
Borrow on your current overseas income	Borrow on Australian income, often simpler for lenders
Risk: return date moves and concessions lapse	Risk: renting while you search, prices may move
Need a reliable team on the ground	More time and fewer moving parts

The rules that apply to you as a citizen abroad

Foreign investment approval

Under the federal foreign investment rules, residence matters more than citizenship, and an Australian citizen living overseas can technically fall within the definition of a foreign person [5]. But there is a specific exemption for people with a close connection to Australia, which covers Australian citizens who are not ordinarily resident here [5]. The Foreign Investment Review Board's own residential guidance lists "Australian citizens living abroad" as not needing an application [1].

A spouse who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident is a different story. If you are buying jointly with a non-citizen partner, check the joint-tenancy rules on the FIRB site before you sign anything.

Stamp duty surcharges

States add a surcharge on purchases by foreign persons. Revenue NSW states plainly that an Australian citizen "is not a foreign person under any circumstances, whether or not the person is ordinarily resident in Australia" [2]. Each state writes its own definition, so check the revenue office for the state you are buying in, and remember that a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident living offshore may be treated differently [3].

First home concessions and the move-in clock

This is where timing becomes money. Most state first home concessions are designed for people who will live in the home, and they enforce it.

Take NSW's First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. For contracts from 1 July 2023, it gives a full transfer duty exemption on homes valued up to $800,000 and a concession between $800,000 and $1 million [3]. To keep it, you or another eligible buyer must move in within 12 months of settlement and live there as your principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months [3]. At least one buyer must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident [3].

Read that carefully if you are abroad. If you settle in March and your employer pushes your return to the following June, you could miss the 12-month window and have to repay the concession. Other states use different values and different occupancy periods, so check before you set a settlement date.

The federal Home Guarantee Scheme

Housing Australia's First Home Guarantee lets eligible buyers purchase with a 5% deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance, because the government guarantees part of the loan [4]. Since 1 October 2025 the scheme has unlimited places, no income caps and higher property price caps [4]. You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and buy a home you will live in as an owner-occupier; the guarantee ends if you stop living there without an approved exemption [6].

You also count as a first home buyer if you have not owned property in Australia in the last 10 years [6], which can help Australians who sold up when they left a decade ago. Housing Australia does not publish a specific rule for applicants who are still overseas, so the conversation about your return date needs to happen with a participating lender before you commit.

Getting the loan: what lenders will look at

Lenders lend on what you earn now. If you are paid in Hong Kong dollars or euros, expect the lender to apply its own policy on which currencies it accepts and how much of the income it counts. Some lenders will also want to see a confirmed plan to return, such as an Australian job offer, before they treat the loan as owner-occupied.

With the Reserve Bank lifting the cash rate to 4.85% on 3 November 2026 [7], buffers and serviceability tests matter more than they did a year or two ago. Run your numbers at a higher rate than today's, especially if your Australian salary is likely to be lower than your overseas one.

Planning the purchase, step by step

Pick a realistic return date and a backup date. Every other decision hangs off it.
Check your status: citizenship, your partner's status, and whether you will be a first home buyer.
Get a pre-approval from a lender that accepts your current income and currency.
Choose the suburb with help on the ground: family, a buyer's agent, or both.
Line up a conveyancer or solicitor in the right state and arrange how you'll sign and verify your identity from overseas.
Set settlement to fit the move-in rules for any concession you are claiming.
Decide what happens in the gap. Leave it empty, rent it short-term, or rent it on a lease that ends when you arrive. Renting it out may affect concessions and changes how interest is treated for tax, so get advice first.

What happens if your plans change?

They often do. Contracts get extended, partners get offers, kids settle into schools. If the home you bought to live in becomes a rental instead, several things move at once: your lender may need to know the loan is now an investment, a first home concession may need to be repaid, and the tax treatment of rent and interest changes. Build a little slack into the plan and keep your lender and conveyancer informed early, rather than after a deadline passes.

Buying the home you'll move back into: planning your return from overseas