How much do conveyancing fees cost for a first home buyer in Australia?

As at July 2026, no government body or industry regulator publishes an authoritative fee range for conveyancing in Australia. It’s a professional service fee that varies by state, by how complex your purchase is, and by whether the conveyancer or solicitor charges a fixed fee or bills variably. Rather than a “typical” figure, the reliable path is to get quotes for your specific purchase and compare what’s actually included in each one.

As covered in our guide to what a conveyancer does, the fee covers the professional work of managing your property transfer — contract review, title and property searches, settlement adjustments, and coordinating settlement itself.

What drives the cost of conveyancing?

Driver	Why it moves the fee
State	Different legislation, search requirements and market norms
Complexity	Off-the-plan, strata, unusual title history add work
Fixed fee vs variable	Fixed caps the professional fee; variable can grow
Disbursements	Separate government search/lodgement fees, on top

State

Conveyancing sits under each state’s own legislation, and the searches a conveyancer has to run — and how the land titles system works — differ state to state. That alone means a fee quoted in one state won’t tell you much about what to expect in another.

The complexity of your purchase

A standard established-home purchase is generally the simplest case. Buying off-the-plan, buying into a strata or community title scheme, or a title with an unusual history (easements, disputes, a deceased estate) can all add work — and therefore cost — beyond a standard transaction.

Fixed fee vs variable billing

Some conveyancers and solicitors quote a fixed professional fee for a standard purchase; others bill by the hour or add charges if complications arise. Ask directly whether a quote is fixed or capped, and what would change it, before you commit.

Disbursements

Separately from the professional fee, a conveyancer passes on disbursements — the actual costs of searches and lodgements paid to government registries and other bodies. These are published fee schedules, so unlike the professional fee they do have real figures — but they still vary by state, and the fee to register the transfer itself often scales with your purchase price. Three examples, as at July 2026:

State	Title search fee	Fee to register the transfer
Victoria	$10.00–$21.10 (Land Use Victoria)	From $104.30, plus $2.34 per $1,000 of the purchase price (capped at $3,614.00)
Queensland	$25.71 (Titles Queensland)	$248.04 flat, for a standard transfer
Western Australia	$33.90 (Landgate)	Calculated on Landgate’s own fee calculator, based on the purchase price

Each registry updates its schedule on 1 July, so these are current for the 2026–27 year but will move again next financial year. A quote that looks lower than another may simply be listing the professional fee without disbursements included — always ask whether a quote is all-inclusive.

How do I get an accurate figure for my own purchase?

Request an itemised quote that separates the professional fee from disbursements, and confirm whether the professional fee is fixed or capped. It’s also worth asking what happens to the quote if settlement is delayed or the purchase turns out to be more complex than expected — a conveyancer who’s upfront about this before you engage them is easier to budget against than one who isn’t.

Is a cheaper quote always the better choice?

There’s no single answer here — the cheapest quote isn’t automatically the best value if it excludes disbursements, caps only part of the work, or comes from someone less familiar with your specific type of purchase. Weighing price against what’s actually included, and against the professional’s experience with your kind of transaction, is a judgement every buyer has to make for their own purchase.

Getting two or three itemised, comparable quotes before you engage anyone is the most practical way to see where your own number is likely to land — a licensed conveyancer or property lawyer can walk you through exactly what’s included in theirs.