Priya Raman watches APRA buffers, Housing Australia schemes and state stamp-duty settings from Canberra. She translates policy circulars into kitchen-table English and keeps the refinancing and borrowing-power desks honest about what has actually changed this year.
Priya Raman
Policy correspondent · Canberra, ACT
Articles by Priya Raman
First home buyer grants in Australia, state by state
The First Home Owner Grant is a state payment, usually aimed at new homes, and it is not the same thing as a stamp duty concession or a Commonwealth guarantee. Here is how the pieces fit.
20 May 2026
HECS-HELP and home-loan borrowing capacity
HECS-HELP is not interest-bearing like a personal loan, but compulsory repayments reduce assessable income and lenders still load the remaining balance into serviceability. Indexation makes the balance a moving target.
14 April 2026
Refinancing costs and fixed-rate break fees
Discharge fees are annoying. Fixed-rate break costs can be brutal. Here is how Australian switch costs actually add up, and how to ask for a break estimate that means something.
9 April 2026
How to refinance a home loan in Australia, step by step
A practical sequence for switching Australian home loans: file hygiene, comparison, application, valuation, discharge and the first repayment on the new account.
19 March 2026
Read How to refinance a home loan in Australia, step by step
Stamp duty concessions for first home buyers, by state
Transfer duty is still one of the largest cheques a first home buyer writes. Concessions and exemptions differ by state and territory, by price, and by whether the home is new. This is the working map, not a substitute for the revenue office.
5 March 2026
Credit scores and home loans in Australia
A credit score is a bureau's summary, not a lender's decision. Home-loan credit teams still read the file: defaults, enquiries, repayment history, and whether your score was damaged by a phone plan you forgot.
1 March 2026
When to refinance your home loan in Australia
Refinance when the saving survives fees, a new serviceability test and a reset clock — not because a billboard offered cashback. Timing is a spreadsheet, a credit-file decision and a life decision.
26 February 2026
The APRA serviceability buffer, explained
Australian lenders must assess home loans as if the rate were higher than the contractual rate, by a buffer APRA sets. That buffer is why you cannot borrow the repayment you can 'make today'.
20 February 2026
The 5 per cent deposit scheme and First Home Guarantee, explained
Housing Australia's guarantee products let eligible buyers purchase with as little as 5 per cent deposit without paying LMI. They are not a gift, not automatic, and not a reason to stretch to the last dollar of borrowing power.
2 February 2026
Read The 5 per cent deposit scheme and First Home Guarantee, explained
How lenders calculate borrowing power in Australia
Borrowing power is a credit-policy output: assessable income, haircut, expenses, existing commitments, HEM versus your statements, and a serviceability buffer on the proposed rate. The homepage calculator is theatre.
8 January 2026