Stamp duty for first home buyers, state by state

Why there is no national answer

Stamp duty — transfer duty in most jurisdictions — is set by each state and territory rather than federally, and first home buyer relief varies by price cap, property type, prior ownership, occupancy requirement and sometimes income. It is also one of the largest cash lines on a settlement statement, which is why the gap between two states can change what you can afford more than a rate difference does.

The rules move with each state budget, and 2026 has been unusually active in both directions: one jurisdiction abolished duty for first home buyers entirely while another withdrew relief it had recently introduced. Anything you read about duty needs a date attached, including this page. The figures below were current as at September 2026, and your conveyancer cites the rules operative on your contract date.

ACT: the first jurisdiction to abolish it

From 1 July 2026 the Australian Capital Territory abolished stamp duty for all first home buyers, with no income test and no property value cap. It is the first Australian jurisdiction to go that far, and it removes the largest single upfront cash hurdle for Canberra first home buyers outright rather than tapering it away at a threshold.

The effect lands on funds to complete rather than borrowing capacity. Your deposit stretches further because there is no duty line to fund, but the lender still assesses the loan exactly as before. Duty is also not the only government cost — registration and transfer fees, searches, conveyancing and settlement adjustments all remain.

NSW, Victoria and Queensland: caps that shape what you can buy

In New South Wales the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme gives a full exemption to $800,000 and a tapering concession to $1 million, thresholds that have not changed since 1 July 2023. With Sydney values down 1.4 per cent in August 2026 alone, the number of properties sitting under those caps is rising for the first time in years — a rare case where a softening market widens eligibility rather than narrowing it.

Victoria exempts eligible first home buyers to $600,000 with a concession tapering to $750,000. Separately, the Victorian off-the-plan duty concession has been extended to contracts entered before 21 April 2027 and is open to all buyers including investors, which makes it one of the few duty concessions in the country not limited to first home buyers.

Queensland charges no duty for eligible first home buyers on new homes or vacant land, with no price cap, a setting in place since 1 May 2025. On established homes the full concession runs to $700,000 and tapers out at $800,000. The First Home Owner Grant reverted from $30,000 to $15,000 for contracts entered from 1 July 2026, so a Queensland buyer working from advice written last year is budgeting a grant that no longer exists at that level.

Tasmania and South Australia: relief moving the other way

Tasmania’s duty relief for established homes ended on 30 June 2026, and the First Home Owner Grant was cut from $30,000 to $20,000. A Tasmanian first home buyer looking at established stock is now budgeting duty that a buyer contracting six months earlier was not — the clearest current illustration of why concession timing belongs in your contract planning rather than in your reading.

South Australia never abolished duty for everyone, despite headlines suggesting it had. It runs targeted streams instead: relief for eligible first home buyers on new housing, including off-the-plan and house-and-land, without a value cut-off, and a separate downsizer concession for eligible buyers aged 60 and over moving into qualifying new stock. Established homes generally still attract duty unless another concession applies.

For Western Australia and the Northern Territory, thresholds and eligibility have been revised in recent budgets and we do not publish figures we cannot date precisely. Use your own revenue office calculator and have your conveyancer confirm the result against your contract before you rely on it in a negotiation.

The conditions underneath the thresholds

Every scheme carries conditions that decide eligibility more often than price does. You generally must not have owned residential property in Australia before, all purchasers usually have to qualify — one ineligible name on the title can void the concession for everyone — and there is normally an occupancy requirement, commonly living in the property for a minimum period beginning shortly after settlement.

Duty is also assessed on the dutiable value, which is not always the contract price. Nominee arrangements, related-party transfers, linked transactions, some off-the-plan structures and land with existing improvements can all produce a dutiable value different from the number on the front page of the contract. That is conveyancer territory, and it is a question worth asking before you exchange rather than after.

Model funds to complete, not just the duty line

Duty is the largest cash line but not the only one. Mortgage registration and transfer fees, conveyancing, building and pest inspections, strata searches, council and water adjustments, lenders mortgage insurance where it applies, and a post-settlement buffer all come out of the same pool as your deposit. Buyers who model deposit plus duty and stop there are the ones scrambling in settlement week.

The other reason to model the whole figure is that duty relief changes your maximum purchase price in a way a borrowing power calculator does not show. Two households on identical incomes, one in Canberra and one in Hobart, now have materially different cash positions at the same purchase price — and the loan is only half of that picture.

Getting the cash side right before you bid

The useful exercise is a funds-to-complete worksheet built for your state, your purchase price and your contract date, sitting beside a loan amount that reflects it. Azure Home Loans maps the two together, and the stamp duty calculator on this site gives you a starting estimate to check against your own revenue office’s figure.

The concessions summarised here were current as at September 2026 and are general information only — not tax or legal advice, and not a determination of your eligibility. Duty settings change with state budgets, so confirm the operative rules on your state or territory revenue office website and with your conveyancer before you commit to a price.