State government data has revealed which suburbs first home buyers are flocking to in the Hunter.

Wallsend is the Hunter's top suburb for first home buyers who are taking advantage of the NSW government's stamp duty assistance scheme.

It was followed by Cardiff, Maitland, Cessnock and Charlestown.

Revenue NSW data has revealed 529 first home buyers have used the First Home Buyer Assistance Scheme for property purchases in Wallsend between July 1, 2023 and August 1, 2025.

The 529 purchases saved a combined total of $12.7 million on duty fees, or an average of $23,967 per purchase.

The assistance scheme waives or reduces the transfer duty for people buying their first home up to a certain value.

The program was introduced by the former Liberal government in 2017. Since July 1, 2023, the fee has been waived for first homes valued up to $800,000, while homes valued between $800,000 and $1 million may qualify for a concessional rate.

Vacant land purchases receive exemption for values up to $350,000 and a concessional rate for land valued between $350,000 and $450,000.

The next most popular suburb after Wallsend for first-time buyers using the scheme was Cardiff, with 473 purchases and a total saving of $10.7 million. The average saving per home was $22,591.

Next was Maitland with 470 homes and $10.6 million in savings, Cessnock with 437 homes and $8.5 million in savings and Charlestown with 316 homes and $7.1 million in savings.

Those three suburbs had average savings of $22,531, $19,395 and $22,415 respectively.

Across the Hunter region, almost 6800 buyers took advantage of the scheme in the past two years, saving an average of about $21,500 and a total of $146.2 million.

The vast majority of these purchases (6412) were for existing homes, while the remaining 384 were for vacant land.

Almost 80 per cent of first home purchases in the Hunter eligible for the scheme received full exemption from stamp duty.

Lake Macquarie had more properties bought through the scheme than any other Hunter LGA at 1699.

This saved a total of $38.5 million, at an average of $22,648 per buyer.

This was closely followed by Newcastle at 1645 properties and $37.6 million saved, at an average of $22,884.

Simone Prestini is one of the Newcastle buyers who used the scheme when purchasing his first home in 2023.

He said the exemption saved him about $15,000 when he bought his apartment.

"When I was told about the scheme I said 'where do I sign?'" Mr Prestini said.

"It's really, really hard to buy a house these days and saving the money on total outlay is how it should be."

NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said he was "immensely proud" of the impact the first home buyers scheme was having.

"Our program has helped thousands of first time buyers get into their own home and start building a future in Newcastle and the Hunter," he said.

"We're seeing first home buyers around Newcastle saving more than $22,000 on average, a tax cut that makes a huge difference to their buying power.

"It's helping close to nine out of every 10 first home buyers pay no tax or reduced tax, giving them a real advantage to get into a home."