Cost to buy a house
Buying a property? See the total cash you could need, adding your deposit to stamp duty, registration fees and the other costs of buying.
Works for houses, units and townhouses.
- No ads. No account.
- Calculated in your browser.
- Sources you can check.
Your conveyancer may call this your cash to complete.
Your figures
Your purchase
Enter the price and details of the property you're buying.
You will need: purchase price, your deposit, your lender's LMI quote, if you borrow more than 80%, conveyancer quote.
Sets the stamp duty and the land registry fees.
Changes the stamp duty, through the calx stamp duty calculator.
Enter your deposit and any lenders mortgage insurance premium.
The part of the price you pay from your own money. The costs of buying are added on top, so do not take them off the deposit. Enter the whole deposit, including any amount you pay when you sign the contract. Enter 0 if you have no deposit.
Stamp duty and the land registry fees are worked out for you. The rest are starting figures you can change: use your own quotes where you have them.
Check your conveyancing, inspections, other fees and settlement date.
Starting figures for conveyancing and a building and pest inspection, and any lender or other costs you pay in cash.
Starting assumption $1,500, within the range published guides give for one side of a purchase (about $800 to $2,500 including disbursements). It is meant to cover your conveyancing and legal costs. calx does not estimate electronic settlement (PEXA) fees separately: depending on your conveyancer, platform and settlement charges may be part of the quote or listed as a disbursement. Replace this with your conveyancer's quote. calx adds stamp duty and the land registry fees separately, so if your quote already includes those government fees, leave them out here.
Starting assumption $600. Enter 0 if you will not have one.
Application, establishment or valuation fees you pay at settlement. Not estimated: $0 unless you enter them. Leave out a fee your lender adds to the loan.
For example a strata report or a pre-settlement inspection. Not moving costs, furniture or the LMI premium, which is asked for above.
Empty means today. The land registry fees are the ones in force on this date. Stamp duty always uses the rates calx holds now, whatever the date. A share link keeps the date it was made with.
Estimate only, not financial, credit or legal advice. It does not assess eligibility for any concession, grant or scheme, or whether a lender will lend. Confirm the figures with your lender and conveyancer.
Your result
Enter the purchase price and your deposit to see the cash you need.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
How much cash do I need to buy a house?
This calculator shows the total cash you need from your own money for the purchase. That is your deposit plus the costs of buying paid in cash, such as stamp duty, the land registry fees, conveyancing and a building and pest inspection. It is not only the balance paid on settlement day. Your conveyancer's settlement statement may split the same money into a deposit paid when you sign the contract and a balance paid at settlement.
How is the total cash I need worked out?
Your loan towards the price is the purchase price less your deposit. The costs of buying paid in cash are stamp duty, the transfer registration fee, the mortgage registration fee when there is a loan, conveyancing, the inspection, and any lender fees and other costs you enter. The total cash you need is your deposit plus those costs. Each amount is counted once, and the page shows every line and where it came from.
Where do the stamp duty and registry fees come from?
Stamp duty is worked out by the calx stamp duty calculator for your state or territory, buyer type, property type and first home answer, using the rates calx holds now. The transfer and mortgage registration fees are the published land registry fees in force on your settlement date, read from each registry's 2026-27 fee schedule. In Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia the transfer fee rises with the price. In South Australia it is over $5,000 on a $500,000 purchase.
Why is my first home concession shown as assumed?
Because a first home concession depends on conditions calx cannot check, such as living in the home and never having owned property before. Until you confirm you meet them, the stamp duty line and the headline total are shown as assumed, with the conditions listed. Confirming changes no figure. It records that you have checked, and it is your declaration, not a determination by the revenue office.
Does calx estimate lenders mortgage insurance (LMI)?
No. calx does not calculate or check an LMI premium. If your loan is more than 80% of the price, the calculator asks whether your lender will charge LMI. Enter the premium your lender has given you, or answer No if your lender has told you it will not charge LMI, for example because it is waived or a government guarantee applies. The premium is added to the loan, which is the usual treatment, so it does not change the cash you need. If you pay it from your own money instead, the total cash you need goes up by the premium.
Is my price under the 5% Deposit Scheme price cap?
If you are a first home buyer who will live in the home, the page compares your purchase price with the property price caps Housing Australia publishes for the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme. It says whether the price is at or below each cap for your state or territory. It does not assess eligibility or approval, and it never assumes that no LMI is charged. A Participating Lender decides, and if you use the scheme's guarantee you answer the LMI question yourself.
Is the first home owner grant taken off the cash I need?
No. No first home owner grant or other grant is taken off the total cash you need. Grants have their own conditions and payment timing, and are often paid at settlement towards the price. Check with your state revenue office and your lender how a grant would be paid in your case.
Why are conveyancing and the inspection already filled in?
They are calx starting assumptions: $1,500 for conveyancing and legal, within the range published guides give for one side of a purchase (about $800 to $2,500 including disbursements), and $600 for a building and pest inspection. Conveyancing fees are not regulated and vary. calx does not estimate electronic settlement (PEXA) fees separately. Depending on your conveyancer, platform and settlement charges may be part of the quote or listed as a disbursement. Replace the assumptions with your own quotes. If your conveyancer's quote already includes the government registration fees, leave those out of the conveyancing figure, because calx adds them separately.
What does the Cost to buy a house calculator leave out?
It leaves out settlement adjustments for council rates, water and strata levies, first home grants, foreign purchaser duty surcharges, the Victorian pensioner concession, duty on an LMI premium, moving costs, and the cost of repairs and furniture. It does not estimate an LMI premium or lender fees, and it does not assess whether a lender will approve a loan. Stamp duty uses the rates calx holds now, so a share link opened after a duty change shows the current duty. Results are estimates, not financial, credit or legal advice.