Pacific Music Group (PMG) has launched a Tokyo office, PMG Japan, and signed Japanese rapper JP THE WAVY.
The rapper has joined PMG on a long-term 360 deal covering recorded music and management, the company announced today (October 8).
PMG says JP THE WAVY is PMG Japan’s first major signing and that he will begin releasing new music through the partnership this fall.
PMG, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, was launched in November 2025 by NE-YO, Sonu Nigam, MC Jin, and Jonathan Serbin.
Serbin, PMG’s CEO, previously served as Co-President of Warner Music Asia, a post he was appointed to in 2021.
The Tokyo office will be co-led by Tomomi Takeshima and MiMi Shimada.
According to PMG, the hub will cover artist development, recorded music, management, promotion, brand partnerships, and cross-border collaboration.
The company says the office will work in two directions: taking Japanese artists to audiences outside the country and bringing international acts to fans in Japan and across Asia.
For JP THE WAVY, PMG says its plans include growing his audience across Asia and pursuing opportunities in the United States and other Western markets.
Beyond recorded music and management, PMG says the deal also covers audience development, collaborations, live opportunities, and brand partnerships.
JP THE WAVY broke through in 2017 with his single Cho Wavy De Gomenne.
In 2021, he teamed up with Good Gas on Bushido, from the official soundtrack to F9: The Fast Saga.
“JP THE WAVY has already established himself as a defining voice in Japanese hip-hop, and we’re honored to help write the next chapter of his career,” said Jonathan Serbin, CEO of Pacific Music Group.
“Our goal with PMG Japan is to give artists like him the infrastructure and global reach to compete on the world stage while staying true to what makes them unique. This is just the beginning.”
“Our goal with PMG Japan is to give artists like him the infrastructure and global reach to compete on the world stage while staying true to what makes them unique. This is just the beginning.”
Jonathan Serbin, Pacific Music Group
“I’m excited to join PMG and take my music to the next level, not just in Japan, but everywhere,” said JP THE WAVY. “This partnership gives me the platform to keep pushing my sound forward and connect with fans around the world. New music is coming this fall, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”
“This partnership gives me the platform to keep pushing my sound forward and connect with fans around the world. New music is coming this fall, and I can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”
JP THE WAVY
“Launching PMG Japan brings together two perspectives we believe are essential to building something lasting in this market: a deep, hands-on understanding of Japan’s music industry and the artists within it, and an international vantage point shaped by years of working across borders in the global music business,” said Takeshima and Shimada in a joint statement.
“That combination is what allows us to do more than simply send Japanese artists abroad or bring international opportunities into Japan – it lets us build both directions of that bridge at once, grounded in real relationships here in Japan and connected to Pacific Music Group’s global network.
“We want PMG Japan to become a hub where local insight and global reach work together – respecting each artist’s individuality and vision, rooted in Japan’s distinctive culture and creativity, and open to everything that becomes possible when talent and business can grow across borders.”
“We want PMG Japan to become a hub where local insight and global reach work together – respecting each artist’s individuality and vision, rooted in Japan’s distinctive culture and creativity, and open to everything that becomes possible when talent and business can grow across borders.”
Tomomi Takeshima and MiMi Shimada, PMG Japan
Japan, the world’s second-largest recorded music market, returned to growth in 2025, with wholesale recorded music revenues up 8.9% YoY after a flat 2024, according to IFPI‘s Global Music Report 2026.
IFPI’s 2025 Top 10 included two other Asian markets: China at No.4 and South Korea at No.7.
At PMG’s launch, Serbin said: “With half the world’s population and three of the top ten music markets, the region is primed to lead on the world stage.”
The Tokyo launch follows a series of moves by PMG this year.
In March, PMG became the exclusive Asia manager and global record label for TaTa Taktumi, the AI artist from Timbaland‘s Stage Zero.
In April, PMG Korea, the company’s Seoul-based arm led by CEO Samuel Ku, signed Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany Young as its first artist.
In September, PMG struck a strategic partnership with Kaskade covering all Asian territories.
Alongside the Japan launch, PMG has added three more artists from the region to its roster: Fyeqoodgurl from Thailand, Nasi from Taiwan, and Zolie Chan from Hong Kong.
According to PMG, Fyeqoodgurl is an R&B singer-songwriter from Chiang Mai who went viral with a cover of NewJeans’ Hype Boy and appeared on Mnet’s Queendom Puzzle.
PMG says Nasi, an artist of Seediq heritage, placed third on The Voice of China before signing with Warner Music Taiwan.
Zolie Chan, according to the company, writes English and Mandarin pop songs and ballads that draw on her Malaysian and Hong Kong heritage.
PMG’s labels include Pacific Records, electronic and dance imprint Ghostone Records, and hip-hop imprint Family Style Records.
Ghostone Records was PMG’s first label imprint, with Thai DJ and producer 22Bullets as president and Lizzy Wang as its first signing.
Family Style Records launched in May with MC Jin as president.
PMG’s roster also includes NE-YO, Sonu Nigam, MC Jin, Lil Cherry & GOLDBUUDA, NADA, KHANTRAST, and BRYN.
The company says it now has a presence in Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo, backed by teams in China, India, and Southeast Asia.Music Business Worldwide
Ford CEO Jim Farley recently said “the air we breathe is a four-year degree.” In other words, college is the default path we steer every kid toward. He’s right, and he deserves credit for pushing back on it. Ford has even commissioned Ad Council research on how students, parents, and teachers see the trades.
The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, which Ford launched with Google, BlackRock, and Carhartt, just released a detailed new look at what the country needs. The headline most outlets ran with is that employers will have to fill about 1.7 million skilled trades openings every year through 2035. Training programs are preparing roughly 55 people for every 100 of those jobs.
But the number that stopped me was further down in the report. Much of the public conversation has focused on persuasion, and this number suggests that isn’t where the biggest gap is. Seventy-one percent of teens say they would be proud to pursue a skilled trade, and 81% of parents would be proud if their child did. Yet of every 100 people who start an apprenticeship, only 48 finish. Just 29 are working in a trade five years later.
We are losing people after they’ve already said yes. America can’t afford to waste young talent on the way to work. The bigger lever is what happens after enrollment, and much of that is in employers’ hands.
Why people walk away
Finishing isn’t cheap. Getting to class can mean a car payment or a two-hour bus ride, and childcare doesn’t pause for an apprenticeship. Ford’s new investment in getting trades students to class goes straight at one of these barriers, and that matters.
Other barriers are ones employers built. Apprentices earn little while they learn, and in some trades they carry costs that employers used to cover. Many auto technicians, for example, are paid a set rate per repair regardless of how long the job takes, and they buy their own tools. A new tech who is still learning works slower and absorbs the loss.
No awareness campaign fixes that. Employers control the destination, and a pathway only holds people if the destination pays enough to make finishing worth it.
What finishing looks like
At the International Youth Foundation, we’ve spent more than a decade building automotive talent pipelines in Mexico and South Africa. One lesson keeps holding up. People finish when the training is built with the employers who will hire them.
In Mexico, we worked with automakers, suppliers, and coatings companies to design technical tracks in automotive painting, tool and die manufacturing, and automation. Then we embedded them across 28 campuses of the State of Mexico’s technical college system, so they would outlast any single grant. An evaluation of graduates from two of those tracks found 82% were employed within five to six months.
What made it work isn’t unique to Mexico. Employers help decide what gets taught. Students get mentoring and career guidance alongside technical training. And there’s a real job waiting.
Teach the job as it is now
Outdated training is another way we lose people. A graduate who learned last decade’s version of the job shows up unprepared, and either doesn’t get hired or doesn’t last. Matt Sigelman, whose Burning Glass Institute co-produced the report, said the jobs most resistant to automation are the ones built on varied, complex tasks that require human judgment. That means the training has to keep up with the work.
When electric vehicle manufacturing arrived in Mexico, we worked with the National Auto Parts Industry Association to define what the new jobs actually require, then built training around them. Industry defined the standard. Schools taught it.
What the Alliance can do next
Ford and its partners have done the hard first step by measuring the problem, including how many people never finish. The next step is accountability. Every Alliance member should publish completion and five-year retention rates for the training programs it funds or runs, so we can see which ones actually get people to work. Employers should be inside public technical schools co-writing curriculum instead of building parallel programs on the side. They should pay people while they learn and cover the tools the job requires. With DEWALT and Milwaukee Tool among the Alliance’s newest members, the companies that make those tools are now at the table, and that’s real progress. And the jobs at the end should pay a living wage.
The country doesn’t need to convince young people that the trades are worth it. They already believe it. Our job is to make sure the ones who say yes make it all the way to work.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
Why you should do a business management degree and why you should major in business management
Should I study business management? Pros of business management degree? In today’s video I will be going through the top 5 reasons why you should study business management or major in business when you’re in college or university. Business majors and business management degree is very common, so I thought it’d be useful to point out why this is and what are the advantages of a business management degree.
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Sustainable municipal bond ETFs have struggled to gain scale despite financing projects with identifiable environmental and social benefits.
Investor priorities, state tax incentives, limited liquidity, and fragmented bond supply make narrowly focused thematic funds difficult to construct and sustain.
A thematic tilt within a broader municipal strategy may offer a more practical balance among impact alignment, diversification, liquidity, and credit quality.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the $4.5 trillion US municipal bond market have become an increasingly prominent investment vehicle. Net assets grew from less than 0.8% of total municipal debt outstanding in 2017 to 4.3% by the end of 2025.
Yet, unlike in equity markets, dedicated municipal bond ETFs with sustainability or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) mandates remain rare, and notable offerings have struggled to gain scale or have been liquidated.
The VanEck HIP Sustainable Muni ETF and the State Street Nuveen Municipal Bond ESG ETF were liquidated in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Among currently operating funds, the JPMorgan Sustainable Municipal Income ETF had approximately $382 million in net assets in mid-2026, while the Franklin Municipal Green Bond ETF had approximately $72 million.
Although this limited uptake has coincided with growing political and legislative scrutiny of ESG investing and a more cautious approach to promoting sustainable products by US asset managers, it remains a puzzle.
Municipal bonds finance schools, roads, water systems, hospitals, and other public infrastructure, with proceeds often associated with identifiable projects or purposes. In that respect, they appear well suited to investors seeking a visible connection between their capital and environmental or social outcomes.
Why, then, have sustainable and thematic municipal ETFs that select bonds based on environmental or social purposes gained so little traction in the municipal bond market?
We posed this question because investor demand for these products could lead to more favorable issuance terms for municipalities and lower their borrowing costs.
Our interviews found that broader municipal bond strategies incorporating a thematic tilt may be more feasible than narrowly defined pure-play funds. This approach can preserve exposure to identifiable public projects while providing greater flexibility to maintain diversification, liquidity, and credit quality, making thematic alignment less of a constraint on portfolio construction.
UK property transactions can be identified and observed directly within minutes of payment settlement using CHAPS, the UK’s high-value payment system. Taking advantage of the migration to the ISO 20022 payment standard in June 2023, and the introduction of mandatory purpose codes from May 2025, we have developed a real-time indicator of housing activity. We find that this closely aligns with existing official housing market statistics and therefore can act as a reliable real-time indicator of these statistics, superseding previously developed value-based proxies.
How well does CHAPS track official statistics?
CHAPS participants are required to provide purpose codes for property transactions. The most frequently used of these is ‘PCOM’, which corresponds to the property completion payment.
In the UK, property market activity is often measured through HMRC and Office for National Statistics (ONS) statistics. These datasets capture different dimensions of the housing market; HMRC provides a measure of property transaction activity, whereas ONS statistics focus specifically on residential property transactions. HMRC statistics are based on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) returns (which is paid after completion) and exclude transactions below £40,000. They are published with a one-month lag, with the latest month and the previous two months reported on a provisional basis. In contrast, ONS statistics are based on completed and registered residential property transactions which leads to a three-month lag in publication.
To assess how well payments with the PCOM purpose code capture completed property transactions, we compare PCOM volumes with HMRC’s property transaction series. Our analysis finds that total PCOM volume is an excellent real-time indicator of property transactions and provides an accurate measure of completed residential transactions in the UK.
Chart 1 shows close alignment between CHAPS PCOM volumes and HMRC property transaction data. From May 2025 to August 2026, there were 1.6 million uses of the PCOM purpose code, which is equivalent to over 99% of the residential property transactions reported in HMRC statistics over the same period. The mean absolute percentage difference between monthly PCOM volumes and monthly HMRC residential property transactions is 2.8%, while the Pearson correlation is 0.96, demonstrating there is a strong alignment between them. Since PCOM can be used for a broader range of property-related transactions than those covered by residential property statistics alone, extending the comparison to HMRC total property transactions (residential and non-residential) yields corresponding values of 9.9% and 0.96. This comparison suggests that our PCOM series is a useful indicator of aggregate property market activity.
Chart 1: Comparison of monthly volumes of CHAPS PCOM transactions to HMRC monthly data on property transactions
Notes: Compares monthly volumes of CHAPS PCOM payments (green), alongside HMRC monthly property transaction volumes completed in the UK with value of £40,000 or above, including total property transactions (orange) and residential property transactions (blue). HMRC data is available until August 2026, including provisional data from June 2026; CHAPS PCOM data until September 2026. The x-axis represents months, and the y-axis shows transaction volumes in thousands.
For both series (looking at HMRC total, or HMRC residential only), our analysis suggests that PCOM volumes track property completions closely, regardless of coverage. Furthermore, while HMRC data is published with a lag (delayed by one month, four if we exclude provisional data), PCOM provides a near real-time signal, meaning that CHAPS payments data could capture turning points in property market activity as they emerge.
We expect there to be some differences between the two series because they both consider slightly different sets of transactions. CHAPS may include property-related transactions below £40,000, or those not captured by SDLT returns, while HMRC may capture property purchases settled through other payment rails, funded from non-UK bank accounts, or accounted for using other property-related purpose codes.
What do payment timings reveal about housing activity?
While we do not yet have sufficient data to develop a seasonally adjusted series, the granularity of payments data in the period May 2025 to September 2026 allows us to look at other seasonal features of the data. We can confirm the patterns align with expectations:
Property transaction activity falls sharply over the Christmas and New Year period, with average daily PCOM volumes 57% lower than during the rest of the year. This reflects a seasonal pattern, in which transactions are often brought forward and completed before the holiday period.
Most people want to move before the weekend; Fridays account for 36% of transactions.
Transactions are concentrated in the morning; 56% of transactions are settled before midday; giving you the afternoon to unpack!
Housing payment values: coverage and limitations
A key advantage of purpose codes is that they allow us to identify property completion payments directly, rather than relying on value-based proxies. Therefore, the PCOM series provides a more complete picture of property market activity across the full distribution of property transactions, while offering a more precise measure by isolating only property-related transactions.
In the 12 months to July 2026, over two-thirds of PCOM property completion payments by volume sit within the £100,000 to £500,000 range, in line with the average UK house price. However, this range only corresponds to 50% of the total value of property payments settled, with the top 1% of payments by value accounting for more than 17% of the total PCOM value settled in CHAPS. This highlights the importance of capturing higher-value transactions, which were likely to be excluded under the previous value-based proxy.
Across the same period, the ONS reports that the average house price in the UK was £273,000, while the average value of a CHAPS PCOM property payment was £344,000. Here, it’s key to understand that the two measures are not directly comparable. The ONS chart is derived from their UK House Price Index, which is based on residential property transactions and uses a mix-adjusted methodology to account for differences in the characteristics of properties sold over time. In contrast, PCOM payments capture a broader set of property transactions and reflect the property completion payment value, making the average more sensitive to high-value transactions.
More broadly, while CHAPS data can provide timely insights into housing market activity, it does not contain the detailed property-level information required to construct traditional house price indices, such as those produced by the ONS, Nationwide and Lloyds. These indices adjust for differences in property characteristics through hedonic regression methods, ensuring the index reflects underlying price movements rather than changes in the composition of properties sold. As this information is not available within CHAPS payments data, CHAPS is better suited to analysing transaction patterns and market activity, limiting its ability to directly measure house price inflation or replicate established house price indices.
Conclusion and further work
The introduction of mandatory purpose codes has transformed CHAPS payments data into a powerful tool for real-time monitoring of the property market. By directly identifying housing transactions, the resulting PCOM series provides a more accurate and timelier indicator of property completions than previous value-based proxies. This data can also help the Bank monitor intraday CHAPS property transaction flows and identify and manage operational risks. The analysis presented in this article is based on using payment settlement dates, values and purpose codes; it does not use any personal information.
With transaction-level timestamps, PCOM data enables housing market patterns, shifts and developments to be monitored as they emerge. For example, we observed a peak in PCOM volumes at the end of March 2025, in line with changes to SDLT thresholds, demonstrating the potential of CHAPS data to capture shifts in market activity in near real time.
Looking ahead, we could explore relationships with mortgage related activity by enriching CHAPS data with complementary data sources, such as Product sales data. This would allow us to enhance real-time monitoring and support us to explore further housing insights.
A footnote on previous work
Previous analysis on CHAPS housing used a value-based CHAPS proxy to track housing activity, which showed broad alignment with HMRC trends when comparing year on year differences between 2007–16. However, this approach relied on assumptions in the absence of more granular data and has been less effective in recent years, with the relationship weakening from 2023 onwards. The introduction of purpose codes and enhanced CHAPS granularity now allows for a more direct and precise view of underlying housing activity, reducing reliance on proxy-based approaches which include non-housing transactions and exclude high value transactions.
The authors are grateful to James Sanders and Sam Cuthbertson for useful discussions and comments.
Simran Mehta and Valentina Macchiati work in the Bank’s Wholesale Payment Division.
If you want to get in touch, please email us at bankunderground@bankofengland.co.uk or leave a comment below.
Comments will only appear once approved by a moderator, and are only published where a full name is supplied. Bank Underground is a blog for Bank of England staff to share views that challenge – or support – prevailing policy orthodoxies. The views expressed here are those of the authors, and are not necessarily those of the Bank of England, or its policy committees.
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<p>Why companies are still adopting these strategies to lower costs, reduce risk, strengthen supply chains, improve productivity, and create new revenue opportunities.</p>
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Intel(INTC +0.55%) will post its third-quarter results after the bell on Thursday, Oct. 29. If the past year is any guide, revenue could be the least surprising number in the release.
Intel’s revenue has topped its own forecast in seven straight quarters. And the latest one wasn’t close: Second-quarter revenue of $16.1 billion was $1.8 billion over the midpoint of management’s guidance. Investors have noticed. Shares trade near $114 as of this writing, about triple where they began 2026.
But a business can sell more chips than it planned and still struggle to profit from them. I think the number that matters most this month is Intel’s gross margin (the percentage of sales Intel keeps after paying to build its products). And its climb has slowed sharply.
Image source: Intel.
Revenue has been the easy part
For the third quarter, management forecast revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion. The $16.3 billion midpoint works out to about 19% growth year over year, a drop from the second quarter’s 25% rate. Yet that’s strong for a business whose revenue was flat in 2025.
Hitting the range could depend more on Intel’s factories than on its customers. In its second-quarter filing, Intel said demand for both its PC and server chips exceeded the supply it had available, and it expects industrywide shortages of substrates, memory, and other parts to run into next year. That means revenue will probably track how many chips Intel’s plants can make.
Gross margin is different. It reflects yields at those plants, the early costs of ramping Intel 18A (its latest manufacturing process), what Intel pays for memory and other inputs, and the prices it can charge.
Is the margin still climbing?
Intel’s non-GAAP (adjusted) gross margin was 37.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025. It jumped to 41% in the first quarter of 2026, then inched up again in the second quarter, to 41.8%. For the third quarter, management forecast around 42% (41% on a GAAP basis). Each rise has been smaller than the last — a gain of 3.1 percentage points, then 0.8 points, then a guided 0.2 points. Plus, 42% would be only around 2 points over the 40% Intel reported for the third quarter of 2025.
Intel’s margin beats have been shrinking, too. The first quarter’s 41% topped Intel’s 34.5% guidance by around 6.5 points, helped partly by sales of previously reserved inventory.
The second quarter’s 41.8% beat the 39% guidance by around 2.8 points, helped by higher factory yields.
“We were very pleased with Q1 gross margins and we will continue to push for gross margin expansion. It is my top priority,” CFO David Zinsner said in April, in his comments on Intel’s first-quarter results.
In those same comments, though, Zinsner said Intel 18A was still early in its ramp and that climbing input costs, especially memory, were “growing headwinds in the second half.”
The valuation needs more than 42%
At the guided revenue midpoint, one percentage point of gross margin is worth around $160 million of gross profit a quarter. That’s about 6% of the $2.8 billion in adjusted operating income Intel earned in the second quarter.
And the share price leaves little room for a margin that stalls. At around $114, Intel has a price-to-earnings ratio of about 55 using expected 2027 earnings. Measured against its adjusted earnings over the last four quarters, the ratio is above 100. Investors are already paying for profits that haven’t arrived yet.
Today’s Change
(0.55%) $0.62
Current Price
$113.12
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$598BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$111.14 – $115.30
52wk Range
$32.89 – $142.35
Volume
82.9M
Avg Vol
106.7M
Gross Margin
39.05%
To be fair, the margin might keep rising. Intel said in July it had lowered the cost of its main Panther Lake chip made on 18A by around 50% so far in 2026, with another 20% drop expected by year-end.
But spending is climbing, too. Intel lifted its 2026 capital spending outlook to over $20 billion and expects 2027 spending to be much higher. New factories and equipment carry depreciation costs that might hurt gross margin when they come online.
Another revenue beat on Oct. 29 might be welcome, but it likely won’t tell investors much they don’t already know. A gross margin comfortably above 42%, plus a fourth-quarter forecast that keeps it rising, would arguably show the turnaround reaching profits.
A margin that just meets the 42% forecast, though, might not cut it for a stock priced for a comeback. At a price-to-earnings ratio around 55, I think Intel needs that number climbing faster than its own forecast suggests.
Buying property is expensive, and getting an initial foothold in the market can seem an impossible task.
Fortunately, many state and territory governments have recognised this and provide eligible first home buyers with a leg up in the form of grants, as well as stamp duty concessions.
More than 20 years on from their introduction, the grants, often abbreviated as FHOGs (first home owner grants), remain popular initiatives to help home buyers break into the housing market.
What are first home owner grants?
First home owner grants are administered by various state and territory governments, so the details can fluctuate between jurisdictions.
They range in value from $10,000 to $50,000 and are commonly only available to first home buyers building their own home or purchasing a dwelling that hasn’t been lived in before.
They can also sometimes be used to bolster a buyer’s deposit, making the grants particularly attractive to many potential first home buyers – but they are not open to all.
For starters, the ACT doesn’t offer a first home buyer grant. Instead, it offers a waiver of stamp duty to all first home owners, regardless of home value or income levels (from 1 July 2026).
Additionally, there are various price caps that apply to receiving a FHOG.
Here’s a summary in the table below (as at June 2026):
State/Territory
Value of grant
Eligible property
Property value limit
Northern Territory (NT)
$50,000
New homes
No limit
Queensland (QLD)
$30,000
$15,000 after 30 June 2026
New homes
$750,000
South Australia (SA)
$15,000
New homes
No limit
New South Wales (NSW)
$10,000
New or substantially renovated homes
$600,000 ($750,000 for house and land new builds)
Victoria (VIC)
$10,000
New homes
$750,000
Western Australia (WA)
Up to $10,000
New or substantially renovated homes
$800,000 (south of 26th parallel) $1 m (north of 26th parallel)
Tasmania (TAS)
$10,000 (some applicants may be eligible for another $10,000)
New homes
No limit
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
N/A
N/A
N/A
If you’re after more specific details on the grants, as well as information on stamp duty waivers and concessions, you also can find them on this page – just keep scrolling!
If you’re still unsure whether your purchasing plans tick the box, it’s advised you turn to official state or territory government sources or reach out to an independent expert for advice.
Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
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6.19% p.a.
6.23% p.a.
$3,059
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$530
90%
Available for purchase or refinance, min 10% deposit needed to qualify.
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Dedicated loan specialist throughout the loan application.
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5.80% p.a.
$2,962
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80%
A low-rate variable home loan from a 100% online lender.
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6.33% p.a.
$3,105
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$395
80%
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Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning
Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning
First home owner grant eligibility requirements
Eligibility criteria for individuals signing up for first home owner grants vary between each state and territory.
As discussed above, many require a buyer to be purchasing or building a new property within set expenditure limits.
On top of that, they will typically need to meet the following eligibility criteria:
At least 18 years old
Haven’t owned a property previously or within the last few decades
Must apply for the grant within 12 months of settlement
Must intend to live in the property after purchasing
How do you apply for the first home owner grant?
There are generally two ways to apply for the grant: either by lodging the application yourself through your state or territory revenue office, or through an approved bank or lending institution.
The grant is usually paid to your lender at the time of settlement and applied directly to your home loan. If you are building a house, the grant will be approved when your first loan repayment is due.
If you are doing things by yourself, it is highly suggested that you apply for the grant as soon as you can after your settlement date.
You must remember that in order for your purchase to qualify for the grant, an application must be made within one year of the completion of the transaction.
Detailing first home owner grants: State-by-state breakdown
At the time of writing, every state and territory in Australia, except the ACT, offers some form of a FHOG. [Instead, the ACT offers generous stamp duty exemptions to all first home buyers, regardless of home value.]
Other states may also waive or charge concessional rates of stamp duty for particular first home buyers.
Here’s how much you could get from the grant and any eligibility criteria that may apply, depending on your state or territory.
NSW First Home Owner Grant
The NSW First Home Owner Grant is worth $10,000 and is available on new home purchases worth up to $600,000 and new home buildings worth up to $750,000.
The NSW Government also doesn’t charge first home buyers stamp duty on properties valued at up to $800,000, or vacant land valued at up to $350,000.
It offers discounted stamp duty for first time buyers purchasing properties worth between $800,000 and $1 million and land worth between $350,000 and $450,000.
To learn more, visit Revenue NSW.
Victoria First Home Owner Grant
In Victoria, first home buyers who are buying or building a new home may be eligible to receive a $10,000 grant.
The grants are only available on new properties valued at $750,000 or less.
The Victorian government also waives stamp duty for first home buyers purchasing properties valued up to $600,000. It promises discounted rates for properties worth between $600,000 and $750,000.
Visit the State Revenue Office of Victoria for more information.
Queensland First Home Owner Grant
Queensland doubled its first home owner grant in November 2023, bolstering it from $15,000 to $30,000. But the grant is set to revert to $15,000 from 1 July 2026.
Buyers can take advantage of the respective grants according to when their contracts were entered although the home being built must not be value at more than $750,000 to be eligible.
The Queensland government also waives stamp duty for all first home buyers entering into a contract to purchase a new-built home to live in (or vacant land to build one), regardless of the value of the home.
For established home, first home buyers purchasing property up to $700,000 or vacant land for less than $350,000 do not have to pay stamp duty. Concessional stamp duty rates apply for properties purchased for up to $800,000 and land purchased for up to $500,000.
For more information, visit the Queensland Revenue Office.
South Australia (SA) First Home Owner Grant
Eligible first home buyers in South Australia can qualify for a $15,000 grant if they are buying or building a new home, no matter its market value.
The state also doesn’t charge stamp duty on property purchases made by first time buyers, as long as they are building or buying a new dwelling. (Stamp duty still applies to first home buyers purchasing
Visit Revenue SA for more information.
Tasmania First Home Owner Grant
Eligible first home buyers in Tasmania could receive up to $20,000 if they are purchasing or building a new home from 1 July 2026. (This is down from $30,000 in the prior period.)
The grant will be made up of a $10,000 grant with an additional payment up to $10,000 available if certain criteria are met.
Unlike other states, there is no limit on the purchase price of the property.
The Apple Isle is also reinstating full stamp duty on first home buyers who purchase established homes from 1 July 2026.
Visit the State Revenue Office of Tasmania for more information.
Western Australia (WA) First Home Owner Grant
Eligible first home buyers can receive a $10,000 grant towards buying or building a new home.
How much an eligible buyer can spend on their property and still receive the grant depends on the property’s location.
The combined cost of land and building of a home in the Perth metropolitan area (south of the 26th parallel) must not be valued at more than $800,000 (as at 7 May 2026).
Meanwhile, houses north of the 26th parallel can be valued at up to $1 million.
The WA Government doesn’t charge first time buyers stamp duty if they’re buying new build or established homes valued up to $600,000 with a concessional rate applied to home valued up to $800,000.
No duty is payable for vacant land valued up to $450,000 with a concessional rate applied to vacant land valued up to $550,000.
Visit the WA Government site for more information.
Northern Territory (NT) First Home Owner Grant
Eligible first home buyers can receive a $50,000 grant towards buying or building a new home when signing a contract between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.
Like Tasmania, there is no specified limit on the purchase price of the property.
The territory also doesn’t offer any specific first home buyer stamp duty discounts.
Visit NT Government for more information.
ACT First Home Owner Grant
The ACT doesn’t offer any FHOGs at the time of writing.
Instead the ACT government offers a full stamp duty exemption to all first home buyers in the territory regardless of home value (from 1 July 2026).
Visit ACT Revenue Office to learn more.
Australian first home buyer grants: FAQs
Buying your first property can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, and it can seem like there’s no end to the information that needs to be considered.
With that in mind, here are some of the most common questions about FHOGs in Australia.
When will the grant be paid?
When a grant will be paid is be dependent on many factors, including the state and territory a buyer resides.
In some cases, the grant might be paid at the time of settlement or when the first drawdown of the loan occurs, particularly for new home constructions.
In other cases, it might be paid upon the issuance of a final inspection certificate or completion of an eligible transaction.
For the most accurate and detailed information regarding the payment timing of the FHOG in each state or territory, it’s best to turn to the relevant state or territory revenue office or their official website, which can be found above.
Am I allowed to use the grant as a deposit?
If you are applying for a FHOG through an accredited agent and while in the process of purchasing a home, you could use the grant as a deposit.
However, you would still need to shell out, since the grant is generally not enough to be considered an entire deposit. It is highly advisable that you talk to your mortgage broker to know more about using the grant as your deposit.
When you apply on your own, however, you may not be able to use the grant as a deposit as you would have already applied for a loan and settled on the property.
If you’re concerned about the size of your deposit, it could be worth considering turning to the 5% Deposit Scheme.
Will my income affect the amount of the grant?
No state or territory applies a means test to receiving a FHOG. This means your income will not impact your ability to receive the grant.
As long as you fit the eligibility requirements and your property is within any value cap, you can apply for the grant.
Can I apply for the grant if I inherit the property?
The purpose of the grant is to help first-home buyers finance their home purchase.
If you inherit a property and you plan to apply for the grant, do not expect to get approved.
If I have a property outside Australia, will I still be eligible for the grant?
Generally, states and territories specify that a person turning to the grant must not have owned Australian property either ever before or within the last 25-odd years.
If you own a property outside of Australia, this mightn’t automatically disqualify you, but the specific rules of each state or territory should be checked.
It’s recommended to consult the relevant state revenue office for detailed information and clarification.
Would buying an existing home qualify me for the grant?
Each state has its specific rules surrounding the type of home that qualifies for the grant.
At the time of writing, all states and territories only offer the grant to first home buyers purchasing new homes, substantially renovated homes, or vacant land on which they are building upon.
However, those buying established homes might be able to have their stamp duty discounted or waived depending on the state or territory they’re buying in.
