Property market welcomes Keystart’s changes to price and income limits

4 July 2024

"The new Keystart limits will be set using REIWA median house prices and regularly reviewed to reflect market conditions."

REIWA CEO Cath Hart has welcomed the increases to Keystart’s property price limits and income limits, noting they will help more Western Australians into affordable home ownership sooner.

The new limits will be set using REIWA median house prices and regularly reviewed to reflect market conditions.

“Keystart provides a valuable service. It offers loans with as little as 2 per cent deposit and doesn’t charge Lender’s Mortgage Insurance, which is of great benefit to Western Australians who find it difficult to get a loan with a traditional lender,” Ms Hart said.

“The loans are subject to price and income limits, which have been unchanged for some time, and the strong property price increases of recent years have resulted in many people being unable to access these loans.

“Lifting the price and income thresholds means the loans will be available to more Western Australians, allowing them to make the move into home ownership.”

Ms Hart said REIWA was proud to have played a role in the review.

“As the peak body for real estate in WA we have unique insights into the WA property market and our data shows what is happening now,” she said.

“Linking the price limits to REIWA’s medians means they will reflect actual market conditions and can move with the market as it changes.

“This will ensure as many people as possible remain eligible for Keystart loans.”

As well as changing the price limits. Keystart has updated its income limits. These will reflect the income required to service the property price limits.

The new property price limits and income limits effective 4 July 2024 are:

	Previous property price limit	New property price limit	Previous income limit	New income limit
Low Deposit Home Loan	$560,000	$650,000*	Singles: $105,000 Couples and families: $155,000	Singles: $137,000* Couples and families: $206,000*
Shared Ownership Home Loan	$412,000**	$535,000*	Singles: $70,000 Couples and families: $90,000	Singles: $113,000* Couples and families: $174,000*

Figures based on REIWA data as at 31 May 2024.
* The new limits apply throughout the state, excluding the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.
** This property price limit does not include SharedStart loans.

Work is currently underway to determine the most appropriate settings for Kimberley and Pilbara regions to ensure both the low deposit home loan and shared equity home loan settings can align with the unique market conditions for both regions.