In South Australia, the first home buyer benefits attach to new homes and not to established ones. Two houses at the same asking price can therefore cost you very different amounts. It is worth knowing before you fall in love with a place, not after.
What is on the table, and what it applies to
Two separate South Australian benefits, each with its own application:
- First Home Owner Grant — up to $15,000. For building a new home, buying one never lived in, an off-the-plan apartment, a substantially renovated home, or entering a building contract. Vacant land alone does not qualify; a building contract on it can. For contracts signed on or after 6 June 2024 there is no property value cap.
- Stamp duty relief. Eligible first home buyers may pay no stamp duty on a new home, or on vacant land they intend to build their home on.
Neither applies to an established home. That is the whole story in one line, and it is the line most buyers do not know when they start inspecting.
What the gap is actually worth
The grant is up to $15,000. Stamp duty on an established purchase in Adelaide runs well into five figures at typical prices. Put together, choosing new over established can be worth a substantial sum at settlement — money that would otherwise come out of the same savings you are using for the deposit.
Work out your own numbers rather than a rule of thumb: the duty amount depends on the price, and eligibility depends on your circumstances. RevenueSA publishes both the criteria and a calculator.
Why that does not settle the question
If the benefits were the only consideration, everyone would buy new. They are not, and here is the honest other side:
- Location. New stock is mostly on the fringe. Established homes are mostly in suburbs with schools, transport and shops already there. Over a decade, location usually does more for value than a one-off grant.
- Land content. An established home on a larger block in an established suburb often holds value differently from a new build on a small allotment, because it is the land that appreciates.
- What is included. New builds frequently exclude landscaping, fencing, driveways, blinds and floor coverings. Those costs land after settlement and can eat a meaningful chunk of the benefit.
- Time and risk. Building means paying rent while you wait, progress payments, and exposure to build delays. Buying established means moving in.
- Condition. An established home may need work. A building and pest inspection is not optional, and the number it produces belongs in this comparison.
The financing differs too
A construction loan does not work like a standard home loan. Funds are released in progress payments as the build hits stages, and you generally pay interest only on what has been drawn. Fewer lenders offer them and the paperwork is heavier. If you are considering building, that is worth understanding before you sign a contract rather than during.
How to actually decide
Put both on paper for the same budget:
- Purchase price
- Stamp duty — full amount, or zero if the new-home relief applies
- Grant — $15,000 or nothing
- Costs to make it liveable — landscaping and fencing on a new build, repairs on an established one
- Rent paid during a build, if applicable
- Location: what does each suburb do for your commute, and what is around it
Once it is written down side by side, the answer is usually obvious — and it is not always the one with the grant attached.
First home buyer guide, with the official sources · Buying in Adelaide · Book a consultation
Scheme details verified 18 August 2026 against RevenueSA. General information only — not credit assistance, and not taxation or legal advice. Grant and stamp duty eligibility depend on your circumstances and are determined by RevenueSA, not by us. Confirm current rules before relying on them. Easy Loan Finance is a Credit Representative (CRN 568863) of Beagle Finance Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 383640.
