WESTERN AUSTRALIAN first-home buyers are falling behind the nation when it comes to saving a deposit for a mortgage, a recent national survey of first-home buyers has found. The online survey of more than 1,000 Australians by mortgage broker Mortgage Choice revealed WA respondents were more likely to have saved less than $10,000. About 40 per cent of respondents had accumulated up to $10,000 for a deposit, while 13 per cent had accumulated $30,000 or more compared with 17 per cent nationally. But 27 per cent had saved nothing, compared with the national average of 22 per cent. Mortgage Choice national manager corporate affairs Warren O’Rourke said the solo-buying trend was on the increase, as were joint purchases with those made with parents and siblings. “The state with the most solo buyers was WA, which is interesting when we consider that WA now ranks second behind NSW in terms of highest average house price,” he said. When asked what hypothetical government initiative would benefit them most, 44 per cent of respondents said first-home buyers’ grant increases, 39 per cent preferred further stamp duty concessions and 14 per cent income tax concessions for first home buyers.