Not wanting to be trapped long-term in the rental market, the 22 year olds decided to stay at home with their parents to save a deposit for their first home.

Locked out of many markets due to the property boom over the past five years, the Central Coast couple started looking around Cessnock two years ago.

This month they swooped in at an opportune time to take advantage of the region's cooling market and relative afforability, exchanging contracts on their first home at Pelton, near Greta.

"We've been keeping an eye on the market for the last couple of years and we got really serious about seven months ago doing lots of hunting and research," Mr Bradley said. "We wanted to get out and rent but we knew there was no way we'd save a deposit if we did."

Tighter lending restrictions, not price fluctuation, was the couple's biggest concern. Since the Banking Royal Commission, lenders have been tightening their standards after being criticised for being too lax and potentially breaching obligations to lend responsibly.

Borrowers have to provide more evidence of their spending and savings capacity than at any time since the start of financial deregulation in the late 1980s.

Mr Bradley described the change as "challenging" for first-home buyers. "There were a couple of times when we thought it was all too hard," he said. "But we really wanted to get into the market so we kept saving and made sure we had enough."

The three-bedroom house on Ellalong Road backs onto bushland and had been on the market for just three days when the couple looked at it and made an offer. "Someone else put an offer in as well and we did have a bit of a price war, but we're really happy with the place," Mr Bradley said.

LJ Hooker Cessnock principal Bryce Gibson said house prices around the Coalfields hadn't "overcooked" like some other suburbs in the Hunter. 

Mr Gibson said the market was underpinned by afforability, making it attractive for first-home buyers..

Despite noticing a "definite correction" in the market late last year as investor numbers dropped due to tighter lending restrictions, Mr Gibson said there was always a shortage of well-priced properties that generate immediate interest like the one purchased by Mr Bradley and Ms Brown.

He said less investors in the market meant reduced competition for first-home buyers. "Things might soften a little more and go back to a normal real estate market," he said. "There are opportunities out there for first-home buyers and they could prove a force to be reckoned with."