First home buyers pay $0 up to $800,000. Everyone else — here's roughly what to budget at Sydney's common price points.
Stamp duty (transfer duty) is usually the biggest single purchase cost after the deposit. Here's how it plays out at the price points Western Sydney buyers actually pay.
First Home Buyers: The Headline Numbers
Under the NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme:
- Up to $800,000 — full exemption. You pay $0 stamp duty on new or existing homes.
- $800,000–$1,000,000 — concessional (reduced) rates that phase out as the price approaches $1M.
- Vacant land — exempt up to $350,000, concessions to $450,000.
To qualify you must be buying your first home, move in within 12 months, and live there for a continuous 12-month period.
Non-First-Home-Buyer Estimates
For established buyers, NSW transfer duty at common price points is approximately:
| Purchase price | Approx. duty |
|---|---|
| $650,000 | ~$24,500 |
| $800,000 | ~$31,000 |
| $1,000,000 | ~$40,000 |
| $1,300,000 | ~$56,500 |
These are indicative — use our NSW Stamp Duty Calculator for your exact figure, and note foreign purchaser surcharges apply to non-residents.
Traps Worth Knowing
The $805,000 problem. A first home buyer paying $799,000 pays no duty; at $810,000 concessional duty applies. Around the threshold, negotiating a few thousand off the price can save a disproportionate amount in duty.
Off-the-plan timing. Duty liability and concession eligibility interact with contract dates on off-the-plan purchases — get advice before exchanging.
Duty can't usually be borrowed. Most lenders won't fold stamp duty into the loan above their LVR caps — it typically needs to come from savings, which is why the FHB exemption effectively adds ~$30,000 to a first buyer's purchasing power.
How NSW Calculates Transfer Duty
NSW uses progressive brackets — like income tax, higher slices of the price attract higher marginal rates, currently topping out above 5.5% for premium property, with brackets indexed to CPI each financial year. The authoritative rates and the official calculator live at Revenue NSW; our NSW Stamp Duty Calculator gives you the quick version with first-home-buyer logic built in.
First Home Buyer Eligibility: The Fine Print
The First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme exemption requires that you (and your spouse) have never owned residential property in Australia, that at least one buyer is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and that you move in within 12 months and live there for a continuous 12 months. Breaching the residence requirement can mean repaying the duty with interest — a trap for buyers tempted to rent the property out early. Note the scheme is separate from the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant (new builds only) and stacks with the federal First Home Guarantee — an eligible buyer at $780,000 can legitimately pay no duty and no LMI with 5% down.
Budgeting Duty Into Your Loan Structure
Because duty generally can't be borrowed above your LVR cap, it directly reduces your deposit — which can push you into a higher LVR band and trigger LMI you'd otherwise avoid. Sometimes the maths favours a slightly cheaper property that keeps you under 80% LVR once duty is paid; sometimes paying LMI to preserve the purchase is right. We run both scenarios in a free assessment, alongside your borrowing capacity across lenders. Investors should also note foreign purchaser surcharge duty adds 9% for non-residents — details on Revenue NSW's surcharge page.
Investors, Second Homes and the Surcharges
Established buyers purchasing an investment property pay standard transfer duty with no concessions — and timing matters for tax: duty forms part of your cost base for capital gains purposes rather than an immediate deduction, per ATO guidance. Foreign persons add an 9% surcharge purchaser duty on top of standard rates, and note that surcharge status can catch permanent-resident couples buying with a non-resident spouse. Buying in a trust or company? Duty applies at standard rates with no first-home concessions regardless of the humans behind the structure, and discretionary trusts that don't exclude foreign beneficiaries can be hit with the surcharge unexpectedly — a five-minute deed review before exchange prevents a five-figure surprise. For investment lending structure and how duty interacts with your loan sizing, we coordinate with your accountant as part of the assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in NSW?
Not on homes up to $800,000 — full exemption under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. Concessional rates apply between $800,000 and $1,000,000. Above $1M, normal duty applies.
When is NSW stamp duty payable?
Within 3 months of exchanging contracts (for most purchases), and in practice at settlement. Off-the-plan purchasers who will live in the home can defer duty for up to 12 months.
Can stamp duty be added to my home loan?
Only if your loan stays within the lender's maximum LVR — in practice most buyers pay duty from savings. First home buyer exemptions dramatically reduce the cash needed at settlement.
Last reviewed 27 July 2026 by Sam Elvitigala, MFAA Accredited Mortgage Broker. General information only — not personal financial or credit advice.