Stamp Duty on a $950,000 House in Every State

Stamp duty on a $950,000 established home ranges from $28,600 to $52,070 depending on the state — a $23,470 spread on identical houses.

Stamp duty is the state tax on buying property, and every state and territory sets its own rates. Here's the full FY2025-26 owner-occupier bill for a $950,000 established home, ranked cheapest to dearest.

Owner-occupier duty on a $950,000 established home, FY2025-26:

Each state builds its duty scale like a staircase — low rates on the first slice of the price, higher rates on each slice above — but nobody agreed on how tall the steps should be.

Queensland wins because it runs a separate, discounted 'home rate' for buyers who live in the property, on top of an already gentle scale. The ACT sits low because it has spent years deliberately winding duty down. Victoria loses because its upper brackets bite hard through exactly this price range.

The middle of the table — NSW, Tasmania, WA — is just different staircase geometry.

At this price, first home buyer concessions have almost entirely run out. Victoria's relief ends at $750,000, Queensland's at $800,000, WA's at $700,000. South Australia and the NT offer nothing for established homes at any price, and Tasmania's relief ended on 30 June 2026.

Two exceptions survive. In the ACT, a first home buyer can pay nothing at all — the full waiver runs to $1,020,000, provided household income is $250,000 or less. That's a $31,008 saving here.

And in NSW, the concession phases out gradually between $800,000 and $1,000,000. At $950,000 you pay about 75% of full duty — roughly $27,870 instead of $37,162, a discount of around $9,290 for filling in a form. Take it.

These are owner-occupier rates on established homes. Buy the same house as an investor and Queensland's number jumps — the $28,600 home rate is strictly for people who move in; investors pay the full general scale.

New builds are different again: Queensland and South Australia charge new-home first home buyers nothing, with no price cap.

And duty is generally payable at or soon after settlement — the day money and keys change hands — and most lenders won't let you add it to your home loan. It comes out of savings, in cash, on top of your deposit.

If you're comparing cities, add the duty to the sticker price before you compare anything else — a $950,000 Melbourne house costs about $23,000 more to acquire than the same-priced house in Brisbane.

If you're a first-timer buying near $950,000 in NSW, note that every dollar of price between $800,000 and $1,000,000 also erodes your concession — the true cost of stretching is higher than it looks.

And wherever you are, check the current rates on your state revenue office's website, because these staircases get rebuilt every year.