First home buyer guides

Is Torquay Regional for the 5% Deposit Scheme? Bellarine and Surf Coast Caps Explained

By Victoria Whittaker, Buyer’s Advocate · Last reviewed 16 October 2026

Torquay, Jan Juc, Ocean Grove and Drysdale currently have a $950,000 cap under the 5% Deposit Scheme. The official suburb and postcode results were checked on 16 October 2026; confirm the specific property with your participating lender.

If you are buying around Geelong, the Bellarine or the Surf Coast, you may have asked: “Does this suburb get the Geelong cap or the regional Victoria cap?”

It is a fair question. A location can be described as regional in everyday conversation without falling under the lower price cap for this particular scheme.

What do the official results show?

The Australian Government’s postcode search returned the following Victorian results when checked on 16 October 2026:

For this scheme, these locations currently receive the higher cap. Do not assume Torquay has a $650,000 limit simply because it is on the Surf Coast.

Why does the distinction matter?

Consider a buyer looking at an $800,000 property. That price exceeds a $650,000 cap but sits within a $950,000 cap. Getting the location classification wrong could unnecessarily remove a suitable property from their search.

Being inside the cap is only one part of qualifying. Your lender still needs to approve you and the property.

Do other schemes use the same boundaries?

Do not carry a location result from one program into another. The grant, stamp duty relief and federal assistance programs have separate rules.

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund is also closed to new participants, so old pages about its locations should not guide a new application.

How should you check a property?

Search the exact suburb, state and postcode in the official price-cap tool. Confirm the result with your participating lender before committing, particularly where a locality or postcode boundary is unclear.

Then return to the property itself. A higher cap gives you more choice; it does not establish value or make every home within that limit a good purchase.