• First-home buyers are now at their lowest levels in more than a decade, data released on Monday shows.

As a proportion of all home buyers, first-home buyers dropped to 13.9 per cent in May, according to housing finance data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Down from 14.4 per cent in April, this latest result is the lowest since 2004. At that time, the proportion fell to a record low 12.8 per cent as grants for first-home buyers came to an end.

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HSBC Chief economist Paul bloxham doesn’t expect first-home buyers to return in the “near term”.Photo: Louise Kennerley