Stamp Duty on an $800k First Home in NSW (2025-26)

The short answer

If you are an eligible first home buyer in NSW buying an existing or new home valued at $800,000 or less, you pay $0 stamp duty in 2025-26. That's a full exemption under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (FHBAS). At exactly $800,000 you sit right on the threshold, so the duty is fully waived. (For comparison, a buyer who is not a first home buyer would pay about $30,400 in transfer duty on the same $800,000 home.)

How NSW first home buyer stamp duty works

"Stamp duty" in NSW is officially called transfer duty. It's a one-off state tax on the property's purchase price (or market value, whichever is higher), paid at or before settlement.

The FHBAS gives eligible first home buyers a break on top of the normal rates:

Property type	Full exemption (no duty)	Concessional (reduced) rate
New or existing home	Value ≤ $800,000	$800,001 – $1,000,000
Vacant land	Value ≤ $350,000	$350,001 – $450,000

Above $1,000,000 (or $450,000 for land), no concession applies and full transfer duty is charged. Because an $800,000 home lands exactly on the exemption ceiling, the duty drops to nil.

To qualify you generally must: be an individual (not a company), be 18+, be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, have never owned residential property in Australia before, and move in within 12 months and live there for at least 12 continuous months. Check the full eligibility rules on the Revenue NSW site before relying on the exemption.

Worked example: $800,000 home, 10% deposit

Let's model an eligible first home buyer paying $800,000 with an $80,000 (10%) deposit.

Upfront costs

• Stamp (transfer) duty: $0, the full FHBAS exemption at $800,000.
• Deposit: $80,000.
• Loan amount: $720,000 (an LVR of 90%).
• LMI: Because LVR is above 80%, Lenders Mortgage Insurance normally applies. On a ~$720,000 loan at 90% LVR, an LMI premium is commonly in the $13,000–$16,000 range (it's zero at ≤80% LVR). LMI can be paid upfront or capitalised into the loan.
• Other fees: mortgage registration and transfer fees ($170 each) plus conveyancing ($1,000–$2,000).

So the funds needed at settlement are dominated by the deposit and LMI rather than duty. The first-home exemption removes what would otherwise be a major line item (~$30,400).

For context, the general transfer duty on $800,000 (a non-first-home buyer) is built from NSW's marginal brackets: $11,152 plus $4.50 per $100 over $372,000 in 2025-26, totalling $30,412. The FHB exemption is what turns that into $0.

Repayments on the $720,000 loan at, say, 6.0% p.a. over 30 years work out to about $4,317/month. True Loan computes fortnightly and weekly on a true-periodic basis (not just monthly ÷ 2), so a true fortnightly figure of around $1,992 repaid every two weeks actually shaves years off the term versus paying monthly. See weekly vs fortnightly vs monthly repayments.

Model this in True Loan

Plug your own numbers into the True Loan calculator:

1. Set property price to $800,000 and choose NSW.
2. Tick the first home buyer option so the upfront panel applies the FHBAS exemption ($0 duty at $800k).
3. Enter your deposit and watch the LVR and the LMI estimate update (LMI is zero once you reach a 20% / $160,000 deposit).
4. Review total funds required at settlement: deposit + LMI + registration/conveyancing, with duty showing as $0.
5. Set your rate, term and repayment frequency to see lifetime interest and total cost.

Want to weigh "buy now with LMI" against "save longer for 20%"? Build both in the side-by-side comparison tool. Related reading: total upfront cost for first home buyers and the First Home Guarantee 5% deposit path.

Common questions and mistakes

Is it really $0 at exactly $800,000? Yes. The exemption covers value equal to or less than $800,000. One dollar more ($800,001) pushes you onto the concessional scale, where a partial duty applies.

Does the First Home Owner Grant change this? The $10,000 FHOG is separate and applies to eligible new homes within a price cap. It doesn't affect your duty exemption, and you may receive both.

Can I avoid LMI instead of paying it? Possibly. Under the First Home Guarantee (unlimited places from 1 October 2025, NSW caps up to $1.5m in Sydney and regional centres), eligible buyers can purchase with as little as a 5% deposit and no LMI, because the government guarantees the balance. That changes the upfront sum significantly.

Can I use my super for the deposit? The First Home Super Saver scheme lets you release up to $15,000 per year in voluntary contributions, to a $50,000 lifetime maximum (plus earnings), toward a first home deposit.

Common mistake: budgeting for full stamp duty when you actually qualify for the exemption, or forgetting that LMI, not duty, may be your largest upfront cost at a 90% LVR.

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Figures are estimates for the 2025-26 financial year and depend on your circumstances. Confirm thresholds and eligibility with Revenue NSW, Housing Australia and moneysmart.gov.au. This is general information, not financial or credit advice.