Bank of Mum & Dad – Facts & Stats 2026

Money.com.au surveyed more than 1,000 Australians to find out how parents are helping their children to buy homes and what happens after the money changes hands. This is what we found:

Money.com.au’s analysis shows that more than 67,000 Australians may have received some form of help from the Bank of Mum and Dad to buy a home in the past 12 months.

The estimate is based on our survey data, which shows that 46% of first-home buyers received financial support from their parents (including living at home rent-free), and ABS lending data showing that 146,542 first-home buyer loans were issued over the past year.

The true number today could be higher. Younger Australians, who are more likely to have bought their first home recently, reported much higher rates of parental assistance than older generations.

In fact, Gen Z first-home buyers are more than three times as likely as Baby Boomers to have received parental help buying their first home.

Here’s the full generational breakdown:

Our survey found that the most common form of Bank of Mum and Dad assistance is a cash gift. Around 1 in 5 (20%) first-home buyers got a cash gift. This was followed by the 14% of Australians who lived at home rent-free while saving for a deposit (14%).

The third most common form of Bank of Mum and Dad assistance is having parents act as guarantors on a home loan (13%).

The survey found that around 12% of first-home buyers received a cash advance or loan from their parents.

Overall, 54% of respondents didn't receive any financial assistance at all from the Bank of Mum and Dad. However, the bulk of these were older Australians who likely bought their first home under very different economic and property market conditions.

Money.com.au’s data indicates that the average cash gift from the Bank of Mum and Dad is $53,451. This is despite a third of Australians that were given financial aid from their parents (31%) only receiving funds between $10,000-$24,999.

Yet, 23% of respondents say that they were gifted $100,000 or more from their parents towards their home deposit. This is followed by 17% that received less than $10,000, 17% that got between $25,000-$49,999, as well as 13% that were given $50,000-$99,999.

Residents living in Western Australia received the highest cash gift amount from their parents, with an average of $56,999. This is followed by Victorian residents receiving an average of $55,714 and NSW residents that were gifted $54,999.

People living in South Australia were given the least amount on average at $39,999.

The table below shows how the Bank of Mum and Dad’s generosity translates as a percentage of the average first home buyer home loan in each of the largest states. Even though they’re not quite as generous as WA parents in dollar terms, parents in Victoria are, on average, getting the most bang for their buck as when it comes to the gift as a percentage of their children’s home loans.

Let’s slice the state-by-state numbers differently now, looking at where in the country most borrowers get help from the Bank of Mum and Dad, and how parents are helping in different locations.

Our analysis shows that homeowners from Victoria (52%) are the most likely to receive help from their parents when entering the property market. A quarter of Victorian home-buyers (25%) are gifted cash from the Bank of Mum and Dad, with 17% living with their parents rent-free for a period of time.

New South Wales is the second most likely state (49%) to need financial help from their parents to buy a house, with 21% receiving a cash gift. This is followed by cash advance or loan and living rent-free (16%), and then listing their parents as guarantors (15%).

Less than half of South Australian (42%) and Queensland (40%) residents needed help from the Bank of Mum and Dad, followed by 39% of Western Australian home-buyers.

Unlike actual lenders, the Bank of Mum and Dad tends to operate on trust rather than paperwork. Our research found that 64% of first-home buyers who received parental assistance did so without a formal written agreement in place.

Of those, 21% said the arrangement was based on an informal 'handshake' agreement between parents and their children.

By comparison, only 36% of first-home buyers formalised the arrangement with a legally binding written agreement.

Among first-home buyers who had a formal agreement in place, nearly half (46%) specified whether the parental contribution was a genuine gift or a loan that would need to be repaid.

Nearly two in five (39%) outlined what would happen to the parents' contribution if the buyer separated from their partner, while 23% included provisions for repaying the Bank of Mum and Dad if the property was sold.

Only 14% addressed ownership rights or equity-sharing arrangements, like whether parents who contributed funds would retain a financial interest in the property.

Almost half of Australian parents (45%) say that they plan to help all of their children equally when entering the property market. While one in four (25%) said that they’ll provide different levels of support to each child depending on their circumstances or need.

This is followed by 21% of parents that don’t plan to provide any financial support to their children, and 9% who say that they will only help the most financially responsible child.

The Bank of Mum and Dad has become a lifeline for many first-home buyers struggling to break into the property market.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average first-home buyer loan has increased from $169,789 in 2002 to $614,048 today — up more than 260%, making it far harder for many Australians to enter the property market without family assistance.

In contrast, the average annual salary only grew 100% during that period, with wages increasing from $45,697 to $106,657.