Stamp duty on $600,000
Six hundred thousand dollars is the top of several first home exemptions at once. Here is what each state charges at that price, and what changes one step above it.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
$600,000 is the highest price at which a first home buyer still pays no duty in both Victoria and Western Australia: Victoria's exemption ends at $600,000, and WA's first home owner rate has charged nothing up to $600,000 since 7 May 2026. It is also the ceiling for the NSW First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant on a new home, and for Victoria's pensioner duty exemption. Go one step higher and the picture moves fast: at $650,000 a Victorian first home buyer pays $11,356 and a West Australian one $8,075. For a buyer who has owned before, $600,000 costs between $12,728 in the ACT and $31,070 in Victoria, where the principal place of residence rate has already stopped at $550,000. A foreign buyer pays up to $79,070.
This price in one state, four buyer profiles
Investor
$31,070
| Home buyer, not first | $31,070 |
| First home buyer, established | $0 |
| First home buyer, new home | $0 |
| Foreign investor | $79,070 |
$600,000 across Australia
| Where | First home, established | Grant on a new first home | Owner-occupier | Foreign investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $0 | $10,000 | $21,187 | $75,187 |
| Victoria | $0 | $10,000 | $31,070 | $79,070 |
| Queensland | $0 | $30,000 | $12,850 | $68,025 |
| Western Australia | $0 | $10,000 | $22,515 | $64,515 |
| South Australia | $26,830 | $15,000 | $26,830 | $68,830 |
| Tasmania | $22,498 | $20,000 | $22,498 | $70,498 |
| ACT | $0 | $0 | $12,728 | $15,720 |
| Northern Territory | $29,700 | $50,000 | $29,700 | $29,700 |
The first column splits the country in two. Five jurisdictions charge nothing; South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory charge their full scale because none of them relieves an established first home. The grant column runs the other way: the three states that tax the established first home are among the most generous on a new one.
Thresholds that land on this exact figure
Four separate limits are set at $600,000:
- the Victorian first home buyer exemption, $600,000;
- the Western Australian first home owner rate exemption, $600,000 since 7 May 2026;
- the NSW First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant cap on a new home, $600,000;
- the Victorian pensioner and concession card holder exemption, $600,000.
Each of them is inclusive: a contract at exactly $600,000 is inside the limit. A dollar more and the Victorian and WA buyers start paying on a taper, while the NSW grant disappears outright.
Fifty thousand dollars higher
The jump from $600,000 to $650,000 shows how steep the tapers are. A Victorian first home buyer goes from nothing to $11,356; the general duty at that price is $34,070, so the concession still removes most of it, but the first $50,000 above the line costs nearly a quarter of its own value in duty. In WA the first home owner rate gives $8,075 for the same step. NSW and Queensland are unaffected: the NSW exemption runs to $800,000, and a Queensland first home buyer of an established home still pays $0 at $650,000.
A repeat buyer at $600,000
Victoria's principal place of residence concession stops at $550,000, so a repeat buyer here pays the general scale, $31,070, the highest of the eight. Queensland's home concession rate keeps its owner-occupier at $12,850, and the ACT's owner-occupier scale gives $12,728. South Australia's example for its foreign ownership surcharge also uses this price: $26,830 of duty plus $42,000.
Neighbouring prices
Go down to the $500,000 page for the price where more first home schemes overlap, or up to the $750,000 page, where the Victorian taper ends and several grants stop. The Victorian first home buyer page and the WA first home owner rate page explain the two tapers in detail.