Upsizing in Sydney costs roughly 7 percent of the price of the home you are buying, and almost none of it comes back. On a typical Hills District move, selling a $1,850,000 house and buying a $2,200,000 one, the full round trip is $163,608 in duty, fees and moving costs. NSW transfer duty on the new place accounts for $102,287 of that. Agent commission on the sale is another $38,850. Everything else adds up to $22,471.
Most people budget for the deposit and forget the friction. Then the settlement statement arrives. This guide itemises every line on both sides of the move at 2026/27 rates, so you can price the whole thing before you list rather than after. Last updated August 2026, with the RBA cash rate held at 4.35 percent on 11 August 2026, its second consecutive hold.
Every cost of upsizing, in one table
The worked example is a couple selling a four bedroom house in Baulkham Hills and buying a five bedroom house in Kellyville. The two property values are assumptions, chosen so the arithmetic is easy to follow. The fee figures are current NSW government rates and typical Sydney charges as at August 2026.
| Cost | This move | Typical Sydney range |
|---|---|---|
| Selling at $1,850,000 | ||
| Agent commission at 2.1 percent | $38,850 | 1.8 to 2.5 percent of the sale price |
| Marketing campaign | $6,000 | $3,000 to $12,000 |
| Styling and pre sale repairs | $8,000 | $3,000 to $15,000 |
| Conveyancing on the sale | $1,500 | $1,200 to $2,500 |
| Mortgage discharge: land registry $182.73, PEXA $26.29, lender admin | $560 | $250 to $700 |
| Selling subtotal | $54,910 | |
| Buying at $2,200,000 | ||
| NSW transfer duty, 2026/27 rates | $102,287 | Set by Revenue NSW |
| Land registry, transfer plus new mortgage at $182.73 each | $365 | Fixed |
| PEXA electronic settlement fee on the transfer | $146 | Fixed at $146.30 |
| Conveyancing on the purchase | $2,200 | $1,500 to $3,000 |
| Building and pest inspection | $600 | $400 to $900 |
| Lender application, valuation and settlement fees | $600 | $0 to $1,200 |
| Removalists | $2,500 | $1,500 to $4,000 |
| Buying subtotal | $108,698 | |
| Total cost of the move | $163,608 |
That is 7.4 percent of the purchase price, or 4.0 percent of the $4,050,000 of property that changes hands. Not a dollar of it builds equity. Run your own sale figures through our property selling costs calculator before you commit to a price bracket.
Three lines do almost all the damage. Transfer duty is 63 percent of the total. Agent commission is 24 percent. Everything else combined, all eleven remaining lines, is 14 percent. If you want to move the number, you have to move one of the first two.
The selling side, line by line
Agent commission, $38,850. Sydney commission averages 2.1 percent and typically runs between 1.8 and 2.5 percent. On $1,850,000 that spread is worth $12,950, so it is worth negotiating and worth getting three appraisals. Be careful with tiered structures where a higher rate kicks in above a target price. They can work in your favour, but read the trigger.
Marketing, $6,000. Photography, floorplan, portal listings, signboard, print. Sydney campaigns run from about $3,000 for a modest listing to $12,000 or more for a premium one. This is usually payable whether or not the property sells, so ask what happens if you withdraw.
Styling and pre sale repairs, $8,000. Optional on paper. In a market with elevated stock and buyers taking their time, presentation is doing more work than price. Full styling on a family home runs several thousand, and a fresh coat of paint plus a tidy garden is money you generally get back.
Conveyancing on the sale, $1,500. Preparing the contract, the vendor disclosure documents, coordinating settlement.
Mortgage discharge, about $560. The land registry fee for a discharge of mortgage in NSW is $182.73 from 1 July 2026, plus a PEXA fee of $26.29, plus whatever your lender charges for discharge administration. Small money, slow paperwork. Request the discharge authority the week you exchange, not the week before settlement.
Selling subtotal: $54,910. Net proceeds on the sale are $1,795,090.
The buying side, line by line
NSW transfer duty, $102,287. This is the one you cannot negotiate. For contracts dated in the 2026/27 financial year, Revenue NSW charges $52,237 plus $5.50 for every $100 above $1,290,000. On $2,200,000 that is:
$52,237 + (($2,200,000 minus $1,290,000) x 0.055) = $52,237 + $50,050 = $102,287
Duty is calculated on the dutiable value, which is the higher of the price you pay or the market value of the property. Residential purchases above the premium threshold of $3,870,000 are charged at $194,137 plus $7.00 for every $100 over that. Foreign buyers pay a further 9 percent surcharge, which does not apply to Australian citizens or permanent residents. Check your own price point on the NSW stamp duty calculator.
Land registry and PEXA, $511. Registering the transfer is $182.73 and registering your new mortgage is another $182.73. The PEXA electronic settlement fee on the transfer is $146.30. Both sets of figures took effect on 1 July 2026.
Conveyancing on the purchase, $2,200. Contract review, searches, settlement figures, PEXA workspace.
Building and pest, $600. Skip it and you are betting six hundred dollars against a termite bill.
Lender fees, $600. Application, valuation and settlement fees. Some lenders waive all of these, some charge $1,200. Ask before you apply, not after.
Removalists, $2,500. A four bedroom Hills District house to Kellyville is a one day job for a three person crew. Interstate or long carry, more. Two moves instead of one, which is what happens if you sell first and cannot line up the purchase, adds $5,000 to $8,000 once you count storage.
Buying subtotal: $108,698.
How upsizers reduce the stamp duty hit
There is no first home buyer exemption available to you, and NSW has no upsizer or downsizer concession. That leaves four levers that actually work, plus one that only buys you time.
1. Buy land and build under a separate contract. When you buy vacant land with a genuinely separate building contract, transfer duty is charged on the land contract only. The build is not duty bearing. Split our $2,200,000 example into $1,100,000 of land and $1,100,000 of construction and the duty calculation becomes:
$11,602 + (($1,100,000 minus $387,000) x 0.045) = $11,602 + $32,085 = $43,687
That is a saving of $58,600 against the $102,287 you would pay on a finished house at the same total price. The arrangement has to be genuine, Revenue NSW applies Ruling DUT 018 to land sales involving building improvements, so get advice from your conveyancer before you structure it that way. You will also need construction finance rather than a standard loan, which our home loan options page covers.
2. Negotiate harder, because duty follows the price. In the bracket above $1,290,000 every $100,000 you take off the price saves $5,500 of duty on top of the $100,000. Getting $2,200,000 down to $2,100,000 saves you $105,500 in total, not $100,000.
3. Let a soft market do the work. Cotality data released on 3 August 2026 had Sydney dwelling values down 1.4 percent in July, 5.0 percent so far in 2026 and 5.3 percent below the January 2026 peak, with the median dwelling at $1,244,617. Because you are trading up, a falling market shrinks the gap between the two houses and shrinks the duty. Our guide to buying and selling at the same time works that arithmetic through in full.
4. Stay under the premium threshold if you are close to it. Above $3,870,000 the rate jumps from $5.50 to $7.00 for every $100. If you are shopping at $3.8 million, the difference between $3,860,000 and $3,900,000 is more than the $40,000 of price.
And the one that only defers. Off the plan purchases can get up to 15 months to pay the duty under section 49A of the Duties Act, rather than the usual three. It is a deferral, not a discount, and it is owner occupiers only. At least one buyer has to move in within 12 months of completion and live there for a continuous 12 months. Investors do not qualify. For more angles, read our full guide on how to avoid stamp duty in NSW.
The costs that only apply to some moves
None of these are in the $163,608 total. Any of them can be added to it.
Lenders mortgage insurance. Applies if the new loan lands above 80 percent of the property value. On a purchase this size the premium runs into the tens of thousands, it is not refundable if you sell in two years, and it buys you nothing. Our guide on how to avoid LMI in Sydney covers the workarounds.
Land tax. Only if you keep the old house rather than selling it. NSW land tax applies once the land value of your taxable holdings passes the general threshold of $1,075,000, at $100 plus 1.6 percent of the excess. Thresholds have been frozen since 1 January 2025. Land value, not property value, so the house on the block does not count. Large Hills District blocks still get caught.
Bridging interest. If you buy before you sell, interest capitalises on peak debt until the old house settles. A three month bridge is manageable. An eight month bridge in a slow market is not.
Rent and a second move. Sell first without a purchase lined up and you are renting, storing furniture and paying removalists twice. Budget $5,000 to $8,000 for the moving alone.
Fixed rate break costs. If your current loan is fixed and you break it early, the lender calculates a break cost from its own funding position. There is no fixed formula and the number changes daily. Ask for a written quote before you commit to a settlement date.
What the move does to your loan
If you sell Baulkham Hills and buy Kellyville, the cash flows like this. Net sale proceeds are $1,795,090. Paying out the existing $520,000 loan leaves $1,275,090. The purchase costs $2,200,000 plus $108,698 of buying costs, which is $2,308,698. So the new loan is:
$2,308,698 minus $1,275,090 = $1,033,608, an LVR of 47 percent.
That is a comfortable position. It is also $513,608 more debt than you had this morning, on a house you will be paying off for another 30 years. Model the repayment on the loan repayment calculator before you decide the extra bedroom is worth it.
If you would rather not sell at all, the alternative is releasing equity against the current home and funding the purchase that way. Our guide to using equity to buy your next home runs the usable equity calculation, and if you are thinking of keeping the first house as a rental, read buying your next home and renting out the first.
What to do first
- Get three agent appraisals and ask each one for their commission rate and marketing budget in writing.
- Price the duty on the bracket you are actually shopping in, not the one you hope to buy in.
- Ask your lender for a discharge authority form and, if you are fixed, a break cost quote.
- Decide whether you are selling first, buying first or settling both on the same day, because the cost of each is different.
- Work out how long you need to stay in the new house for the $163,608 to make sense. At Sydney growth rates over the past decade that is usually three to five years, but in a market 5.3 percent off its peak it is longer.
If you want someone to price your move on your actual numbers, book a free strategy call or get in touch. We are a Norwest mortgage broker and we do this for Hills District families every week.
Ready to price your move properly?
The cost of upsizing is knowable to the dollar before you list. Most people find out afterwards.
We will price both sides of the move on your actual property, tell you what the new loan looks like at the buffered assessment rate, and flag the costs that only apply to your situation, whether that is LMI, land tax, break costs or bridging interest.
Call 1300 11 7976 or book a free strategy call. We compare 50+ lenders and there is no cost for the conversation.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions
On a $1,850,000 sale and a $2,200,000 purchase, about $163,608 all up. The selling side is roughly $54,910, made up of agent commission at around 2.1 percent, a marketing campaign, styling, conveyancing and mortgage discharge fees. The buying side is roughly $108,698, of which $102,287 is NSW transfer duty at 2026/27 rates. As a rule of thumb, budget about 3 percent of the sale price on the way out and about 5 percent of the purchase price on the way in.
For contracts dated in the 2026/27 financial year, duty on $2,000,000 is $52,237 plus $5.50 for every $100 above $1,290,000. That works out at $52,237 plus $39,050, which is $91,287. On $2,200,000 it is $102,287. Duty is charged on the dutiable value, which is the higher of the price you pay or the market value of the property, and there is no concession for buying a second or subsequent home.
Yes, in full, on the new property. NSW has no upsizer or downsizer concession, and the first home buyer exemption does not apply because you already own a home. You do not pay duty on the property you are selling. The only structural way to reduce the bill is to buy vacant land under a separate building contract, in which case duty is charged on the land only.
Not directly. Duty has to be paid in cleared funds within three months of the contract date and before the transfer can be registered, so it is cash at settlement, not a line item rolled into the mortgage. What you can do is borrow the money elsewhere, usually by releasing equity against the home you already own or by increasing the new loan and contributing more of your own cash to the deposit. Both need to be arranged before you exchange.
Agent commission is the big one, averaging 2.1 percent in Sydney and typically running from 1.8 to 2.5 percent. Then marketing at $3,000 to $12,000, styling and pre sale repairs at $3,000 to $15,000, conveyancing around $1,200 to $2,500, and mortgage discharge fees of a few hundred dollars. On a $1,850,000 sale that lands near $54,910, or just under 3 percent of the price.
A local move for a four bedroom house runs about $1,500 to $4,000 depending on access, stairs and how much you have accumulated. Budget $2,500 as a working number. If you sell first and cannot line up your purchase, you move twice and pay storage in between, which pushes the total to $5,000 to $8,000 before you count any rent.
Within three months of the contract date, or the date of transfer if there is no contract. The only exception is an eligible off the plan purchase, where section 49A of the Duties Act allows a deferral of up to 15 months from the agreement date. That deferral is owner occupiers only and requires at least one buyer to move in within 12 months of completion and stay for a continuous 12 months.
Generally no. Your main residence is normally exempt from capital gains tax, so selling the home you have lived in to buy a bigger one does not create a CGT bill. The exemption can be reduced if you have rented the property out, run a business from it, or the block is larger than two hectares. If any of those apply to you, it is a question for your accountant rather than your broker.
Not when both properties are your own home. Selling and buying costs on a main residence are not deductible and they are not relevant to CGT either, because the property is exempt. If you keep the old home and rent it out, the picture changes: some ongoing costs become deductible, and the buying costs on the original purchase form part of its cost base. That is accountant territory.
Often, yes, purely on the numbers, because renovating avoids the $163,608 of transaction friction entirely. A $160,000 renovation buys a lot of house. It does not buy a different street, a different school catchment or a bigger block. Compare the two properly rather than assuming, and if a full rebuild is on the table our guide to knockdown rebuild costs in Sydney has the numbers.
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