At $800,000 an eligible first home buyer pays no NSW stamp duty, which makes the cash needed smaller than most people expect.
For an eligible first home buyer using the 5% Deposit Scheme, about $43,500: a $40,000 deposit plus around $3,500 of legal, inspection and government fees, with no stamp duty at $800,000.
With a 20 per cent deposit it is about $163,500, and a buyer who is not a first home buyer adds about $30,187 of stamp duty.
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Assumes an eligible NSW first home buyer purchasing an existing home under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (exempt to $800k, concession to $1m). Indicative only, check Revenue NSW for your exact position.
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On a 5 per cent deposit through an eligible scheme, with no duty and no mortgage insurance, the cash required at $800,000 comes to the deposit plus roughly three to five thousand dollars of costs.
That is a materially different proposition from the $160,000-plus most people assume, and it is the reason the schemes matter so much at this price.
An illustrative single buyer sold their last home 12 years ago and buys a three-bedroom townhouse for $800,000. The 5% Deposit Scheme accepts buyers who have not owned property in the last 10 years, so a $40,000 deposit works with no lenders mortgage insurance.
The holding deposit. Usually 10 per cent of the price on exchange, though it can often be negotiated lower or covered by a deposit bond.
It is not an extra cost, it comes off your deposit, but it has to be available on the day you exchange rather than at settlement.
Between $800,000 and $1 million the duty concession tapers, so duty rises steadily as the price does. The step immediately above $800,000 is not a cliff, but it is the point at which a cost that was zero starts to grow.
If you are choosing between two properties either side of it, the comparison is worth doing properly. Check the duty at any price.
Duty thresholds, grant amounts and scheme price caps are set by government and change. Any figure on any website is only as current as the day it was written, and this one is no exception.
The authoritative sources are Revenue NSW for transfer duty and the grant, and Housing Australia for the deposit guarantee schemes. Eligibility is assessed by them and by your lender, not by us.
It depends on the deposit route: about $40,000 plus costs with a 5 per cent deposit, or $160,000 plus costs with 20 per cent. The costs beyond the deposit are similar either way.
Eligible first home buyers pay no transfer duty on a home up to and including $800,000 under the NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. Between $800,000 and $1 million a concession applies on a sliding scale, and above $1 million full duty is payable.
Building and pest inspections or a strata report, the rates adjustment paid to the seller at settlement, government transfer and registration fees, and moving costs. Individually they are small; together they commonly add several thousand dollars.
Yes, on price: the Sydney cap for the 5% Deposit Scheme is $1.5 million, well above $800,000. Eligibility depends on the other criteria, and the scheme is administered by Housing Australia.
No. A holding deposit, commonly 10 per cent of the price, is paid on exchange of contracts, and the balance is paid at settlement. Your conveyancer negotiates this as part of the contract.
Once the cash figure is clear, the next questions tend to follow quickly, and many of them are answered in our first home buyer FAQ.
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Official sources for the figures on this page: Revenue NSW, First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme · Revenue NSW, transfer duty rates. Scheme rules change; the official pages are the final word. Checked against these sources on 12 October 2026.
