What lenders publish about visa holders
Lenders rarely publish a visa-by-visa list. CommBank's page for people moving to Australia tells residents on a permanent or temporary visa to book a Home Lending Specialist to check whether their visa classification is eligible. Westpac's application page lists Australian citizen or permanent resident as the condition for applying online, and says that if you do not meet it, a lender can talk through your options. ANZ's quick online application is for Australian or New Zealand citizens and permanent residents with primary income in Australian dollars, and ANZ says applicants who do not meet its online criteria can get in touch.
Those are conditions of the online route. They are not statements that a 491 holder will be declined, and they do not set out what the lender's credit policy allows. That is why the figures below come from a broker's published records and not from a bank's website.
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How the 491 looks to a lender
Home Affairs describes the 491 as a temporary visa for skilled workers who want to live and work in regional Australia. The Victorian Government's migration site says it runs for up to five years. Your grant letter, or a VEVO check, shows the end date. That date matters because brokers say lenders weigh the time left on the visa together with income, deposit and the property.
A broker page updated in September 2026 says there is no Australia-wide rule requiring six or 12 months remaining on a temporary visa, but that some lenders set a minimum and others look at factors such as employment stability and the pathway to permanent residency.
Deposit: what the broker examples mean in dollars
A maximum loan-to-value ratio (LVR) is the loan as a percentage of the value the lender accepts. The broker's examples for the 491 range from 70% to 95%. On a $650,000 purchase that spread looks like this:
| Maximum LVR | Loan | Deposit towards the price |
|---|---|---|
| 95% | $617,500 | $32,500 |
| 80% | $520,000 | $130,000 |
| 70% | $455,000 | $195,000 |
The gap between the 80% and 70% rows is $195,000 minus $130,000, or $65,000. These figures exclude stamp duty, any state foreign buyer surcharge, the foreign investment application fee, legal costs and lenders mortgage insurance. If the lender values the property below the price, you need more cash. A published maximum is also a ceiling, not a loan offer: the lender still tests your income and expenses. See deposit and loan size and costs of buying.
What a 491 holder can buy
| Property | Position for a foreign person |
|---|---|
| New dwelling or off-the-plan | Foreign investment approval is generally needed. Where a developer holds an approval, individual buyers may not need their own. |
| Vacant residential land | Approval is generally conditional on completing construction within four years and not selling before then. |
| Established dwelling | Generally banned until 30 June 2029. The listed exceptions (large redevelopments, housing on a commercial scale, PALM scheme employers) are aimed at larger projects, not individual buyers. |
| Home bought as joint tenants with a spouse who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident | Treasury lists this as not needing a foreign investment application. Its page names joint tenants only, so ask a solicitor about any other title structure. |
For 2026-27 the application fee for a new dwelling or vacant residential land priced from $75,000 to $1 million is $15,600. States add their own surcharges, and the rules for temporary residents differ by state, so check the table on the temporary visa page. The sister guide on FIRB approval covers the application itself.
The regional condition and where you buy
The Victorian Government's migration site says the 491 requires you, and any dependent applicants, to live, work and study in a designated regional area. Home Affairs' regional migration page puts Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in a "Major Cities" group that gets no regional incentives, and lists Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra and Hobart among its "Cities and Major Regional Centres". Home Affairs also publishes a list of eligible regional areas.
That rule is about where you live, work and study. The pages reviewed do not say whether owning a property somewhere else affects the visa, so that is a question for a registered migration agent, not a lender.
Waiting for permanent residency
The Victorian Government's migration site says the 491 has a pathway to permanent residence after three years, through the subclass 191 visa, and refers readers to Home Affairs for the 191 requirements. One broker adds that three years is an eligibility milestone, not a grant date, and that the 191 also asks for ATO notices of assessment. Home Affairs' 191 page sets the current income and visa-condition tests, so check it before relying on any summary. Treasury's guidance says permanent visa holders do not need foreign investment approval to buy residential property.
The same broker notes that a grant after you sign a contract does not refund costs already triggered, and the state revenue office decides what applies. See home loans while waiting for permanent residency before comparing buying now with waiting.
Keep reading
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a 20% deposit on a 491 visa?
There is no single rule. The broker examples above run from 70% to 95% of the value, which is a deposit of 30% down to 5%, before costs. Which figure applies depends on the lender, the product and your whole application. Ask each lender for its current policy for your exact visa.
Can I buy an established home on a 491?
Not on your own for now. The ban on foreign persons buying established dwellings runs from 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029, with limited exceptions. 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 a solicitor should confirm your relationship and the title structure.
Do I have to buy in a regional area?
The visa condition covers where you live, work and study. The pages reviewed do not say how property you own elsewhere is treated, so ask a registered migration agent. Separately, a lender decides which properties and locations it accepts as security.
Can I use the first home buyer schemes on a 491?
Each federal and state scheme sets its own citizenship or residency test, and state grants and duty concessions are decided by each state's revenue office, not by lenders. Check the scheme's own page before relying on one, and ask the revenue office if your visa is not listed. See first home buyer schemes for visa holders.
Sources
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), Department of Home Affairs
- Regional Provisional stream, Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191), Department of Home Affairs
- Regional migration, Department of Home Affairs
- Eligible regional areas, Department of Home Affairs
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491), Live in Melbourne (Victorian Government)
- 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
- Extending the ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings, Australian Taxation Office
- Making the move, CommBank
- How to apply for a home loan, Westpac
- Quick Start home loan application, ANZ
- 491 visa home loans, Hunter Galloway (broker page, lender examples checked 7 October 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.