Total Cost of Buying a Home: A Sourced Checklist

In short. The costs with a published rate are transfer duty, first home buyer relief, the price of cooling off, and the surcharges on foreign buyers. Professional fees, inspections, lender charges and insurance are quoted to you, so ask for them in writing and compare like with like.

Costs arrive in three waves: before you sign, at signing, and at settlement. The order and dates for your purchase are set by your contract.

Which costs have a rate you can look up?

Buying costs with a published rate
Cost	What sets it
Transfer duty	Your state's rate schedule, for example NSW¹, Victoria⁶ or Queensland¹². The calculator covers six states and territories.
Owner-occupier rates	Victoria's principal place of residence rates, up to $550,000⁷; Queensland's home concession rates for a residence you live in¹³.
First home buyer relief	No duty on a home up to $800,000 in NSW², $600,000 in Victoria⁸ and $700,000 in Queensland¹⁴, if you meet every rule.
Cost of cooling off	NSW: 0.25% of the purchase price⁴. Victoria: $100 or 0.2% of the price, whichever is greater¹⁰.
Foreign purchaser surcharges	NSW surcharge purchaser duty, 9% of the dutiable value⁵; Victoria, 8%¹¹; Queensland, 8%¹⁶. Each is charged on top of ordinary duty.

What does that look like on a $750,000 purchase?

Take a house in western Sydney at $750,000, bought by someone who will live in it and is not a first home buyer. Transfer duty at the 2026/2027 general rates is $27,937¹. The same purchase costs a different amount in each state, which is why the duty belongs at the top of your budget, not in a footnote to it.

Transfer duty on a $750,000 home you will live in. Same price, same kind of buyer, six different bills. Queensland's figure uses its home concession rates. Source: Revenue NSW¹; State Revenue Office Victoria⁶; Queensland Revenue Office¹³; Government of Western Australia, Department of Treasury and Finance¹⁷; State Revenue Office Tasmania¹⁸; Northern Territory Legislation¹⁹.

Chart data

Item	Duty payable
New South Wales	$27,937
Victoria	$40,070
Queensland	$19,600
Western Australia	$29,741
Tasmania	$28,935
Northern Territory	$37,125

If that buyer used the NSW cooling-off period and withdrew, the vendor would keep $1,875, which is 0.25% of the purchase price⁴.

How much does first home relief remove?

On this purchase in NSW, all of it. A first home buyer who will live in the property pays $0 on a home valued at $800,000 or less², so the $27,937 line disappears. Above that, and under $1,000,000, a concessional rate applies³.

In Queensland the same buyer pays nothing on an established home of $700,000 or under¹⁴, and nothing on a brand-new home at any price¹⁵. In Victoria, relief is full up to $600,000⁸ and tapers until $750,000⁹.

So the first question is not "what will this cost" but "which schedule applies to me". The calculator answers that for most states.

What changes for a foreign buyer?

A great deal. On the same $750,000 house in NSW, surcharge purchaser duty of 9% of the dutiable value would add $67,500 on top of ordinary duty⁵. Victoria and Queensland charge their own additional duty¹¹¹⁶. Exemptions exist in each state, and whether you count as a foreign person is a legal question to settle before you sign.

Which costs do you need quoted?

These are real, and you should budget for them, but each is priced for your purchase, not set by a rate anyone publishes:

Conveyancing professional fees, and the disbursements attached to them.
Building and pest inspections, and strata or owners corporation records.
Lender charges, including application and valuation fees.
Lenders mortgage insurance, where the deposit is small.
Land registry and council certificate charges, which each state sets and revises.
Moving costs, home insurance and the first council and water bills.

Ask for each in writing, and use the fees guide to compare conveyancing quotes on the same basis.

When does each one fall due?

Roughly in three waves. Before you sign, you pay for the things that tell you whether to sign at all: contract review, inspections, strata records. At signing or exchange, the deposit your contract sets. At settlement, the balance of the price, the duty, and your conveyancer's fee and disbursements.

The settlement guide sets out the order on the day, including the statement to read before the money moves.

Source notes

Revenue NSW general transfer duty rates for the 2026/2027 financial year, from $1.25 per $100 (minimum $20) up to $52,237 plus $5.50 for every $100 over $1,290,000. Revenue NSW (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Under the NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, for contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023, an eligible first home buyer pays no transfer duty on a new or existing home valued at $800,000 or less. Revenue NSW (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
A NSW first home valued above $800,000 and less than $1 million qualifies for a concessional rate of transfer duty, and Revenue NSW points buyers to its First Home Buyers Assistance calculator for the amount. Revenue NSW (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
A NSW buyer who withdraws during the cooling-off period pays the vendor 0.25% of the purchase price, which is $250 for every $100,000. NSW Government (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
A foreign person who acquires residential-related property in NSW may pay surcharge purchaser duty on top of transfer duty, at a flat rate currently set at 9% of the dutiable value. Revenue NSW (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
SRO Victoria general land transfer duty rates for contracts from 1 July 2021, from 1.4% of the dutiable value up to $110,000 plus 6.5% of the value over $2,000,000. State Revenue Office Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
SRO Victoria's principal place of residence rates, for contracts entered into on or after 6 May 2008, apply to a home valued up to $550,000; above $550,000 the concessional rate does not apply and general rates are used. State Revenue Office Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Eligible first home buyers in Victoria pay no land transfer duty on a new or established home, or vacant land for their first home, with a dutiable value up to $600,000. State Revenue Office Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Victorian first home buyers pay a reduced amount of duty on a property valued from $600,001 to $750,000; SRO Victoria directs buyers to its calculator for the amount and does not publish the formula on that page. State Revenue Office Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
A Victorian buyer who cools off is refunded any money paid, less $100 or 0.2% of the purchase price, whichever is greater. Consumer Affairs Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Foreign purchaser additional duty in Victoria is 8% for contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2019, charged on top of land transfer duty. State Revenue Office Victoria (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Queensland Revenue Office general transfer duty rates: nil up to $5,000, then from $1.50 up to $5.75 for each $100, or part of $100, by bracket. Queensland Revenue Office (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Queensland home concession rates for a home you will live in: $1.00 for each $100, or part of $100, up to $350,000, then $3,500 plus $3.50 per $100 to $540,000, $10,150 plus $4.50 per $100 to $1,000,000 and $30,850 plus $5.75 per $100 above that. Queensland Revenue Office (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
For agreements entered into on or after 9 June 2024, a Queensland first home valued at $700,000 or under attracts no duty, because the first home concession amount matches the home concession duty. Queensland Revenue Office (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
For contracts dated 1 May 2025 or later, the Queensland first home (new home) concession reduces transfer duty to nil on a new or substantially renovated home, with no value cap on the home and its residential land. Queensland Revenue Office (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
An additional 8% duty applies to residential land acquired by foreign persons in Queensland. Queensland Revenue Office (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
WA general rate of transfer duty: $1.90 per $100 or part up to $120,000, rising by bracket to $28,453 plus $5.15 per $100 or part above $725,000. Government of Western Australia, Department of Treasury and Finance (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Tasmanian property transfer duty for transfers on or after 21 October 2013: $50 up to $3,000, then by bracket up to $27,810 plus $4.50 for every $100, or part, over $725,000. State Revenue Office Tasmania (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)
Under Schedule 1 of the Northern Territory Stamp Duty Act 1978, duty on a conveyance valued at no more than $525,000 is (0.06571441 x V squared) + 15V, where V is the value divided by 1,000; above $525,000 and below $3 million it is 4.95% of the value, from $3 million to below $5 million 5.75%, and from $5 million 5.95%. Northern Territory Legislation (Government source, checked 16 September 2026)