Property Buying Costs Calculator
Upfront costs of buying a house: transfer duty plus conveyancing, inspection, loan and registration fees for the total cash needed. Duty from official state tables.
Published rates for the selected buyer type only. Other exemptions, off-the-plan and pensioner schemes and foreign surcharges are not modelled, and GST treatment of new property is out of scope.
Enter the property value to estimate the general transfer duty.
Summary
Choose a jurisdiction and enter a dutiable value to see the band that applies and how it is built.
Working
- The dutiable value selects one published band (or, in the Northern Territory, the statutory formula or a percent-of-value slab).
- Per-$100 bands: duty = base amount + rate per $100 × the number of whole or part hundreds above the threshold.
- Percentage bands: duty = base amount + percent × the value above the threshold, or percent × the whole value for a slab row.
- Statutory formula: D = a × V² + b × V with V = value ÷ 1,000, floored to the nearest 5 cents.
- Any statutory minimum duty is applied last.
Assumptions
- General (non-concessional) rates only, at the rule pack's effective date.
- The dutiable value is the figure you enter; revenue offices may assess a different value.
- Valuation date 2026-10-01 selects the effective rule pack for every jurisdiction shown.
Limitations
- Only the buyer-type concessions offered in the Buyer type field are modelled, and eligibility is assessed by the revenue office, not here. Other exemptions, off-the-plan and pensioner schemes and foreign-purchaser surcharges are not modelled.
- Mortgage registration, transfer registration and other lodgement fees are separate from duty and are not included.
- GST treatment of new residential property, and the margin scheme, are out of scope.
- Where a jurisdiction's rates have not been transcribed and verified, the row shows no figure rather than an estimate.
Statutory rules retrieved from official sources · latest · Methodology
Common questions
What are the upfront costs of buying a house in Australia?
The largest is usually general transfer duty, which this calculator computes from the published rates in the active rule pack for the state or territory you select. Around it sit costs that vary by transaction rather than by statute. Conveyancing or legal fees, building and pest inspections, lenders mortgage insurance, loan application and registration fees, and moving costs, which you enter yourself. The result adds your entered amounts to the duty figure and reports the total cash needed at settlement.
How much cash do I need to buy a property?
Cash at settlement is your deposit plus the upfront costs, and this calculator covers the costs side: duty at the published rates for your jurisdiction plus every amount you enter. Work out the deposit for a given price and loan-to-value ratio in the home deposit calculator, then add the total from this page. Neither figure includes ongoing costs such as council rates, strata levies or insurance.
Does this calculator include stamp duty concessions?
Yes, where a jurisdiction's published concession schedule has been transcribed into a verified rule pack. Selecting a buyer type prices that scheme from its own rate table and shows the concessional duty beside the general-rate figure for the same value. Eligibility is assessed by the revenue office rather than here. The stamp duty calculator shows the same figures with the full bracket ladder.
Does this calculate conveyancing fees?
Conveyancing and legal fees are professional charges set by the conveyancer or solicitor you engage rather than by statute, so there is no published rate table for the calculator to source them from. Enter the fee you have been quoted and it is added to the duty figure alongside your other upfront costs. The duty component itself always comes from the official rate table for the state or territory selected.
Is lenders mortgage insurance included in the buying costs?
Only if you enter it. LMI premiums are set by insurers and vary with the loan-to-value ratio, the loan size and the lender, so the calculator holds no pricing table for them. Your lender can quote the premium for your loan, and it goes into the costs you enter. The ratio that drives it can be checked in the LVR calculator.
Why does the duty figure change when I change state?
Each state and territory has its own duty rate table, thresholds, concession schemes and surcharge rules, and the calculator resolves a separate rule pack for the jurisdiction you select. Nothing is carried over from the previously selected state, and if a jurisdiction's pack cannot be resolved the calculator blocks rather than substituting another state's rates. The source and retrieval date for the pack in use are shown with the result.
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