Australia · https://decisionscalc.com/au/tools/home-buying-cost-calculator/
Home Buying True Cost Calculator
The mortgage is just the beginning. See your complete Year 1 cost — stamp duty, LMI, council rates, insurance, and maintenance — broken down by item, percentage share, and monthly equivalent.
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Full Year-One Cost Breakdown
The deposit is not the cash you need
The costs on top of the deposit are substantial and, unlike the deposit, cannot be borrowed. Transfer or stamp duty, legal fees, searches, surveys, mortgage arrangement fees and moving costs all have to be paid from savings on completion.
How much varies enormously by country — under 1% of the price in some markets and well over 5% in others, with transfer tax the main reason for the spread. Buyers who budget only for the deposit find this out late, which is when it is most expensive to discover.
The first year after you move
Two things catch new owners out. The first is furnishing an empty house, which is a larger number than expected when appliances, curtains and flooring are all needed at once.
The second is maintenance, which no longer has a landlord attached to it. A common planning figure is around 1% of the property value a year, though it does not arrive evenly — several quiet years then a boiler or a roof. Older properties run higher, and a survey is the cheapest way to find out which sort you are buying.
The survey is the cheapest money you will spend
A full structural survey costs a few hundred to around a thousand and is the only step in the process that can save five figures. A lender's valuation is not a survey — it establishes that the property is worth what is being lent against it, and nothing about its condition.
Findings are also negotiable. A survey identifying significant work frequently pays for itself several times over in a reduced price, and occasionally does something more valuable by stopping the purchase.
What lenders look at beyond the deposit
- The loan-to-value band. Rates step down at thresholds — often 90%, 85%, 80%, 75% — so a small increase in deposit that crosses a band can cut the rate meaningfully, while a larger increase that does not cross one changes little.
- Affordability, not just the deposit. Lenders stress-test against a higher rate than the one you are offered, which is what usually sets the ceiling on borrowing.
- Mortgage insurance. Where the deposit is below a threshold, an insurance premium is added, and in some countries it is substantial enough to change what you should buy.
- Committed outgoings. Car finance, loans and credit limits reduce what you can borrow, sometimes by more than their monthly cost suggests.
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| Metric | Scenario A | Scenario B | Difference |
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What changes in Australia
- Stamp duty is state-based and is the largest single entry cost, routinely tens of thousands on a capital-city purchase. Most states now waive or heavily discount it for first home buyers, and from 1 July 2026 the ACT charges eligible first home buyers none at any price.
- Below a 20% deposit, Lenders Mortgage Insurance commonly costs $15,000 to $30,000 and insures the lender, not you. The federal 5% Deposit Scheme exists specifically to let eligible first home buyers avoid it.
- That scheme removed all income caps and annual place limits on 1 October 2025, so most first home buyers now qualify — property price caps still apply and vary by location.
- The First Home Super Saver Scheme lets you save a deposit inside super, taxed at 15% rather than your marginal rate. It needs about a year of lead time to be worth using.
- Strata levies on apartments run $3,000 to $8,000 a year and are rising sharply after recent building-defect reforms — check the sinking fund, not just the current levy.
Data reference (Australia): CoreLogic mean dwelling ~$960k (default modest $800k); variable ~6%; council rates ~$2,000/yr; stamp duty additional by state (2025-26) · figures as of 2026-06 · Compiled from official public sources via AI-assisted research, current to 2025-26; latest available data, not individually verified - general information, not advice.. See our methodology for how every figure is sourced and dated.