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A Sydney entrepreneur has developed a new property app with the goal of enabling more clarity for first home buyers and making long-term ownership a reality.
Sydney proptech entrepreneur Nick Melrose has created an app that sets out to bridge the gap between housing aspirations and financial reality for young Australians.
Using his experience as a former financial modeller, the 24-year-old has created ScaleApp, a free property budgeting app designed to simulate every aspect of the process to home ownership.
The app helps buyers to map out their purchasing journey, starting from saving the deposit while being able to test what their financial future will look like, before committing to a purchase.
Since its launch in mid-July this year, ScaleApp has amassed 68,000 users.
Melrose said the most powerful feature in the app is its ownership simulator, which can help buyers assess if a property is the right fit for them.
“It lets prospective first home owners see what life might look like in five or 10 years with different savings habits, property types, equity positions, and lifestyle changes,” he said.
Melrose felt that this tool would bring young Australians more clarity and stop them from getting lost in the process of buying a home.
“I was drowning in advice and data designed to generate leads, not clarity,” he said.
“There wasn’t a single free tool that helped me truly understand my financial position or the property journey ahead.”
According to Finder’s First Home Buyer Report 2025, 65 per cent of first home buyers are in, or expect to be in, mortgage stress, while 33 per cent will have less than $10,000 left after their purchase.
Melrose said the numbers are heartbreaking, but sadly predictable, prompting him to set out to create a tool to ease the burden on first home buyers.
“We’re asking young people to make the biggest financial decision of their lives without giving them the tools to plan for it properly,” Melrose said.
“When nearly half of buyers overspend and a third are left with almost nothing, it’s clear the system isn’t designed to support them. So, I set out to build one that does.”
Melrose said he hopes his app can restore optimism to first home buyers and make long-term ownership a reality once again.
“If we’re serious about solving the housing crisis, we need to start by giving first home buyers the confidence – and the tools – that they need and deserve,” Melrose concluded.
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