COST OF SELLING · NSW
What does it cost to sell a house in NSW?
Selling a $1,200,000 home in New South Wales costs about $33,500 all up, and roughly 75% of that is agent commission. Here is every line, and what happens to the total when you remove the commission.
Estimate my NSW selling costsNo sign-up. NSW average commission: 2.1%.
About $33,500 to sell a $1,200,000 house in NSW
Selling a house in New South Wales costs more than anywhere else in the country, and the reason is arithmetic rather than greed. The state average commission of 2.1% is the second-lowest in Australia. Applied to Sydney’s median house price, it still produces the largest single line item any NSW seller will face.
NSW Cost of Selling Estimator
Commission in New South Wales is unregulated and negotiable, typically 1.8%–2.5%. Enter the rate you have actually been quoted, or start from the NSW average.
Charged on top of commission, and payable whether or not the house sells.
Your other selling costs
You pay these whichever way you sell, so they sit in both totals and cancel out of the difference. Each is pre-filled with a typical NSW figure. Replace any of them with a quote you have actually been given.
Acts for you on the contract and settlement. Typically $1,200 – $2,200 in NSW.
The certificates behind your vendor disclosure. Typically $150 – $450.
Your lender’s fee to release its mortgage, plus the registry fee. Typically $200 – $400.
Left at $0 by default. An NSW auctioneer costs $400 – $900 on the day.
With a traditional agent
With Unreserved
NSW COST BREAKDOWN
Every cost of selling a house in New South Wales
The list below is every cost a NSW seller actually pays, with real ranges rather than a vague estimate. One of those lines is roughly ten times the size of all the others combined, and it is the only one that is genuinely optional.
Agent commission (2.1% NSW average)
$25,200The big one, and the only optional line on this list. At the NSW average of 2.1% on a $1,200,000 sale, this is about $25,200. Commission is unregulated in New South Wales, so the rate is set by the agency and is negotiable.
Marketing and advertising (VPA)
$3,000 – $9,000Photography, floorplan, portal listings, signboard and brochures. Payable whether or not the house sells, and usually invoiced before the campaign starts.
Your conveyancer or solicitor
$1,200 – $2,200Handles the contract, Contract for Sale of Land, searches and settlement on your behalf.
Contract for Sale of Land and searches
$150 – $450NSW law requires a vendor disclosure contract to be available before the property is marketed: title search, zoning certificate (s10.7), drainage diagram and sewer service plan.
Mortgage discharge and registry
$200 – $400Your lender’s fee to release its mortgage over the title, plus the land registry fee. If you are breaking a fixed rate, ask for the break cost in writing separately.
Auctioneer (only if you auction)
$400 – $900The auctioneer’s fee on the day. Buyers in NSW get a 5-business-day cooling-off period on private-treaty sales (with a 0.25% penalty if they withdraw). There is no cooling-off period at auction.
NSW SPECIFIC
You pay for the contract before you advertise
NSW is one of the few states where the vendor disclosure contract must exist before the property goes to market. That means the title search, section 10.7 planning certificate, sewer service diagram and drainage plan are all bought up front, before a single buyer walks through. Budget $150 to $450 for the certificates on top of your conveyancer’s fee.
Sydney’s median makes 2.1% brutal
NSW commission averages 2.1%, which reads as modest until it meets Australia’s most expensive capital. On Sydney’s ~$1.65M median house that is about $34,650 to the agent, before a dollar of marketing. The percentage did not change. The base it applies to did.
Sydney marketing budgets run hardest
Vendor-paid advertising in Sydney routinely lands between $5,000 and $9,000, and premium eastern-suburbs campaigns push past $12,000. You pay this whether the house sells or not, and it is almost always invoiced up front.
Underquoting rules add a valuation cost
NSW Fair Trading polices advertised price guides, so your range has to be justifiable on paper. Sellers who cannot back their guide end up paying for a formal appraisal. An AI valuation anchored to comparable sales within 2km costs nothing and gives you a defensible number.
Do NSW sellers pay stamp duty? No.
Stamp duty on a property transfer is a buyer cost in New South Wales, not a seller cost. The only tax that can land on a NSW seller is capital gains tax, and that applies solely to investment properties, never to your main residence. Licensing and agent conduct in NSW is governed by the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW).
NSW WORKED EXAMPLE
A $1,200,000 NSW sale, two ways
WITH A TRADITIONAL AGENT
$33,500
Commission of $25,200 at 2.1%, plus marketing, conveyancer or solicitor fees, Contract for Sale of Land searches and mortgage discharge. Commission alone is about 75% of it.
WITH UNRESERVED
$3,200
A flat $900 replaces the commission and the marketing spend. You still pay your conveyancer or solicitor, the Contract for Sale of Land searches and mortgage discharge, because those are not agent fees.
DIFFERENCE
$30,300
Same house, same portals, same buyers. This is the part of your equity that stays with you rather than funding a percentage.
Based on the NSW median house of $1,200,000 at the state average commission of 2.1%, with mid-range marketing, conveyancer or solicitor and search costs. Your actual figures depend on your sale price and the rate you would otherwise have negotiated.
ANCHOR THE NUMBER
Every figure here starts with your sale price
A cost estimate is only as good as the price you put into it. Get a free AI valuation backed by comparable sales within 2km of your NSW home. Sixty seconds, no sign-up, and no agent will call you.
FAQ · COST OF SELLING IN NSW
Cost of selling a house in New South Wales: common questions
On a $1.2M NSW house, expect roughly $25,200 in agent commission at the state average of 2.1%, $3,000 to $9,000 in vendor-paid marketing, $1,200 to $2,200 in conveyancing, $150 to $450 for the disclosure certificates and $200 to $400 to discharge your mortgage. Total: about $30,000 to $37,000, of which commission is roughly 80%. Selling the same house with Unreserved replaces the commission line with a flat $900.
NSW agents average 2.1% of the sale price, typically negotiated between 1.8% and 2.5%, plus a separate vendor-paid marketing budget of $3,000 to $9,000. Commission is unregulated in NSW, so both figures are negotiable, and neither is capped.
No. Stamp duty (transfer duty) is paid by the buyer in NSW, not the seller. The only tax a seller may face is capital gains tax, and that applies solely to investment properties, not to your main residence.
Removing the commission line is the only change that moves the total meaningfully, because commission is around 80% of the cost of selling. Unreserved lists your NSW home on realestate.com.au and Domain, prepares the Contract for Sale and runs the campaign for a flat $900.
A NSW conveyancer or solicitor charges roughly $1,200 to $2,200 to act for a seller, plus disbursements. NSW adds the prescribed certificates for the disclosure contract, another $150 to $450, because the contract must be ready before the property is advertised.
75% of your selling costs are optional.
Same portals. Same buyers. None of the 2.1% commission. List your New South Wales home with Unreserved for a flat $900.