If you've been hoping the market might magically get easier next year, this episode is your reminder that preparation, not luck, will set you apart. Whether you're researching the buying a new home process, looking for first-time home buying tips, or comparing the costs of buying a house, 2026 demands clarity and strategy.

2025 was a defining year for first home buyers — shifting markets, tougher borrowing conditions, new risks emerging, and unexpected opportunities opening up in cities like Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. In this Christmas-Eve episode, we’re wrapping up the year with the insights that mattered most: the lessons that helped first home buyers buy smarter, avoid costly mistakes, and head into 2026 feeling informed, confident, and in control.

If you’ve been scrolling through listings in your dream suburb, only to realise the prices are still miles ahead of your borrowing power, you’re not alone. But being priced out doesn’t mean the door to homeownership is closed. It simply means you need a smarter, more strategic path to get there.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by headlines insisting young Australians are “locked out of the property market,” you’re not alone. But the truth — uncovered by new research — tells a very different story.

Most first home buyers don’t realise it yet — but your first home is also your first investment. Whether you’re planning to live in it for years, rent it out later, or eventually upgrade, the decisions you make today have a major impact on your financial future.