What conveyancing actually costs in 2026
For a standard residential purchase, total conveyancing fees in Australia land in two buckets:
- Professional fee — $1,200–$2,500 for a licensed conveyancer; $2,500–$4,000 for a solicitor handling a complex matter.
- Disbursements — $300–$800 of pass-through costs: title searches, council and water certificates, strata reports, ID verification, PEXA platform fee.
That puts the all-in conveyancing line at $1,500–$3,300 for most owner-occupier transactions of an established home. The calculator above lets you model both components separately, alongside the government and lender costs that make up the rest of the settlement bill.
Conveyancing fee ranges by state
Rough professional-fee ranges based on current published quotes from established residential conveyancing firms — exclusive of disbursements:
| State | Typical conveyancer fee | Typical solicitor fee |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | $1,500–$2,500 | $2,500–$4,000 |
| VIC | $1,200–$2,200 | $2,200–$3,800 |
| QLD | $1,200–$2,000 | $2,000–$3,500 |
| WA | $1,400–$2,400 | $2,300–$3,800 |
| SA | $1,200–$2,000 | $2,200–$3,500 |
| TAS / ACT / NT | $1,200–$2,200 | $2,000–$3,500 |
Disbursements are remarkably consistent across states — search and certificate costs run $300–$600, PEXA settlement fee is ~$120, and registration fees are set by state revenue offices (see stamp duty calculator for the exact registration fees by state).
The full settlement cost stack
Conveyancing is one line in a larger bill. For a $750,000 owner-occupier purchase in NSW (not first home buyer), the line-by-line breakdown is typically:
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Stamp duty (transfer duty) | ~$29,000 |
| Land transfer / title registration | $150 |
| Mortgage registration | $150 |
| Conveyancing — professional fee | $1,800 |
| Conveyancing — disbursements | $500 |
| Building & pest inspection | $700 |
| Loan establishment fee | $500 |
| Valuation fee | $300 |
| LMI (90% LVR example) | ~$13,000 |
| Settlement adjustments (rates, water) | $400 |
| Total non-deposit cost | ~$46,500 |
That's 6.2% of the purchase price. Conveyancing itself is about 5% of the non-deposit bill — small relative to stamp duty and LMI, but still real money to budget for. A first home buyer with an FHB stamp duty concession on a sub-$800k NSW purchase saves roughly $29,000 on the duty line, dropping the all-in to closer to $17,500.
How to compare conveyancing quotes
Three things make conveyancing quotes hard to compare apples-to-apples:
- Disbursements included vs excluded. A "$1,200 fixed fee" that excludes $600 of disbursements is the same bill as a "$1,800 all-inclusive" quote — but the first headline looks $600 cheaper.
- Hourly billing for solicitors. "From $1,800" can end at $3,000 if the matter takes longer than estimated. Ask whether the quote is capped, and if not, what hourly rate applies above the estimate.
- Scope exclusions. Some quotes exclude review of strata reports, special conditions, or unusually long contracts. Read the costs agreement, not just the email.
The simplest comparison technique: ask each firm for an itemised quote that separates professional fee, disbursements, and government registration fees, and confirm in writing that no further fees will apply for a standard transaction. Then compare the bottom-line totals.
Conveyancer or solicitor — when each makes sense
A licensed conveyancer is fine for: established home, single registered proprietor on both sides, standard contract terms, no related-party complications, no unusual title features.
A solicitor is the better call for: off-the-plan purchases (contract review matters more, sunset clauses are real); deceased estates; related-party transfers; properties with caveats, easements or restrictive covenants; long settlements; or any matter where contract negotiation is on the table.
For most owner-occupier purchases of an established home, a good conveyancer at $1,500 does the same job as a solicitor at $3,000. Both carry professional indemnity insurance; both can attend electronic settlement; both register the transfer with Land Registry. The marginal $1,500 of solicitor cost buys legal advice on the contract — useful if you're unsure, redundant if it's a clean transaction.
Conveyancing in an investment property purchase
For an investor, conveyancing fees are not immediately deductible — they're added to the property's cost base for capital gains tax purposes, which reduces the eventual taxable gain when you sell. That makes the after-tax cost of conveyancing meaningfully lower than the headline number for higher-income investors.
The borrowing-related portion of a refinance or loan establishment (loan documents, mortgage registration on the new loan) is deductible over five years or the loan term, whichever is shorter — under the Section 25-25 borrowing expenses rule. Have your conveyancer break out the loan-related fees on the invoice if you're buying as an investment.
For the full investor cost picture see the negative gearing calculator and the CGT projection calculator.