What the 489 is and who holds one
Home Affairs describes the 489 as a temporary visa for skilled workers to live and work in regional Australia, with family possibly included. Its 489 pages are organised by pathway, and the invited pathway page is linked below.
Home Affairs uses "specified regional areas" for the 887 and "designated regional area" for the 491, so the area list that applies to you depends on your visa. Your visa grant letter and VEVO show the conditions and the end date that apply to you.
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The path to permanent residency
Home Affairs describes the subclass 887 as a permanent visa for people who have lived and worked in specified regional areas of Australia. Its page sets the tests, including how long you must have lived and worked in the area, so read it before relying on any summary. Treasury's guidance, covered below, treats permanent visa holders differently from temporary residents.
The Victorian Government's migration site describes the 191 as the permanent visa that 491 holders may be eligible to apply for after three years. That is a different route from the 887, which is why it matters to check the right page for the visa you hold.
What lenders look at
Lender websites rarely list older visas. The broker's table names the 489 for two of ten lenders: one at up to 95% of the property value depending on product, the other at up to 70%. The rest of the table is silent on the 489, which does not tell you how those lenders would treat it. These are dated broker records, not lender policy.
A broker page updated in September 2026 says there is no Australia-wide rule that a temporary visa must have six or 12 months left. Some lenders set a minimum and others weigh employment stability and the pathway to permanent residency. A 489 has a fixed end date, so the end date on your VEVO result is the first thing to check.
On a $600,000 purchase, 70% means a loan of $420,000 and a deposit of $180,000. At 95%, the loan is $570,000 and the deposit $30,000. Those are the ends of the broker's range, not a prediction for any one applicant.
What you can buy while you hold a 489
Treasury treats a person holding a temporary visa that permits a continuous stay of more than 12 months as a temporary resident, and a temporary resident is a foreign person. The established dwelling ban applies from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. New dwellings and vacant land remain possible with approval, and the 2026-27 application fee is $15,600 for a new dwelling or vacant residential land priced from $75,000 to $1 million.
Treasury's residential real estate page lists joint tenants buying with an Australian citizen or permanent resident spouse as not needing to apply. It names joint tenants only, so ask a solicitor about any other title structure.
Once a permanent visa is granted, Treasury's guidance says permanent visa holders do not need approval to buy residential property. State surcharges follow state rules, so check the table on the temporary visa page and see home loans while waiting for permanent residency.
If the 489 ends while an application is pending
Home Affairs describes the Bridging visa A as letting you stay in Australia after your current substantive visa ceases while a substantive visa application is processed. A bridging visa is a different lending case again. See bridging visa home loans.
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Frequently asked questions
Can I still apply for a 489 visa?
Home Affairs' regional migration pages describe the 491 and 494 as the skilled regional provisional visas. The 489 pages are kept for existing holders, so check the 489 page for the current position before relying on any older guide. The 491 visa home loan guide covers the visa most new applicants use.
Can a 489 holder apply for the 191 visa?
Home Affairs and the Victorian Government describe the 191 as the pathway for 491 (and, for Home Affairs, 494) holders. For the 489, Home Affairs points to its subclass 887 page. A registered migration agent can confirm which applies to your visa history.
Does a regional visa mean I must buy a regional property?
The visa conditions are about where the holder lives, works and studies. The pages reviewed do not address owning property elsewhere, so ask a registered migration agent. A lender separately decides which locations and property types it will take as security.
Does holding a 489 for a long time help with a lender?
The sources reviewed do not say so. Brokers say lenders look at the time remaining on the visa, employment, income and deposit, and that policy varies from lender to lender. Ask the lender how it treats your visa history before you apply.
Sources
- Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489), Invited pathway, Department of Home Affairs
- Skilled Regional visa (subclass 887), Department of Home Affairs
- Regional visas, Department of Home Affairs
- Regional Provisional stream, Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191), Department of Home Affairs
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), Live in Melbourne (Victorian Government)
- Bridging visa A (subclass 010), Department of Home Affairs
- Residential real estate, Foreign investment in Australia (Treasury)
- Guidance Note 6: Residential land (v5, 1 July 2026), Treasury
- Guidance Note 2: Key concepts (v5, 12 December 2025), Treasury
- Schedule of Fees (v8, 1 July 2026), Treasury
- Visa home loans, Hunter Galloway (broker page, lender records dated 30 July 2026)
- Temporary resident home loan, Home Loan Experts (broker page, updated 18 September 2026)
Checked 7 October 2026.
Expat Finance is an independent guide. It is not a lender, mortgage broker or credit provider, it does not hold an Australian credit licence, and it does not give credit, legal, tax or migration advice. It is not affiliated with any bank, the ATO or the Foreign Investment Review Board. General information only, not legal, tax, migration or financial advice.