WA Stamp Duty 2026-27: Thresholds, First-Home Relief and Funds to Complete

For a first-home buyer in metropolitan Perth purchasing an established home for $620,000 in 2026-27, the transfer duty is fully exempt under Western Australia’s first-home concession, which applies in full to dwellings up to $500,000 and phases out to zero at $700,000. For a general purchaser at the same price, duty runs to $23,478 — a cost that directly increases the funds-to-complete, shrinks the effective deposit, and lifts the loan-to-value ratio against the assessed property value. WA also charges a 7% foreign purchaser surcharge on top of general duty, and the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) delivers a flat $10,000 for eligible new-home purchases. Because stamp duty is a settlement cost that must be covered before the loan funds are released, the concession or liability size feeds straight into the deposit arithmetic, the LMI trigger point, and the borrowing-capacity calculation under APRA’s 3% serviceability buffer.

What is the WA general transfer duty scale for 2026-27?

Western Australia applies a tiered transfer duty scale to residential property purchases where no concession applies. The scale operates on the dutiable value — ordinarily the purchase price or market value, whichever is higher. For settlements in the 2026-27 financial year, the general rates are:

Up to $120,000: 1.9% of the dutiable value.
$120,001 to $150,000: $2,280 plus 2.85% of the excess over $120,000.
$150,001 to $360,000: $3,135 plus 3.8% of the excess over $150,000.
$360,001 to $725,000: $11,115 plus 4.75% of the excess over $360,000.
Above $725,000: $28,453 plus 5.15% of the excess over $725,000.

These brackets are not indexed to CPI in the way NSW thresholds are; the structure has been stable. The moment a purchase crosses the $725,000 mark, the marginal rate jumps to 5.15%, and the fixed component resets at $28,453. A borrower who pushes $50,000 above that threshold — say, buying at $775,000 — incurs an additional $2,575 in duty on that top slice alone.

From a loan-quote perspective, the duty amount is a hard cash cost that must be settled at or before settlement. It sits outside the loan principal unless the borrower deliberately capitalises it through a higher loan amount — which then raises the LVR and may trigger LMI. A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can model the exact duty figure against the loan quote so the funds-to-complete number is precise, not estimated.

How does the WA first-home buyer duty concession work in 2026-27?

Western Australia’s first-home buyer duty concession was recast from 21 March 2025, and the 2026-27 financial year operates entirely under that framework. The concession applies to both established homes and vacant land, but with different value caps depending on location.

For a home purchase (house or unit) in the metropolitan or Peel region, the duty is fully exempt at a dutiable value up to $500,000. Between $500,001 and $700,000, the concession phases out on a sliding scale — the exemption reduces as the price rises, so a buyer at $620,000 receives a partial concession, not the full exemption. At $700,000, the concession reaches zero and the buyer pays the full general duty scale.

For a home purchase in regional WA — anywhere outside the metro and Peel boundaries — the phase-out range extends further, from $500,001 to $750,000. A regional buyer at $720,000 therefore still receives a partial concession, whereas a metro buyer at the same price would pay full duty. The difference can be worth several thousand dollars in funds-to-complete, which flows directly into the deposit size a lender needs to see.

Vacant land for first-home buyers follows a separate track: full exemption up to $350,000, phasing out to $450,000. A block priced at $400,000 attracts a partial concession; at $450,000 and above, full general duty applies.

The concession is not a rebate claimed later — it is applied at settlement through the Duties Online system, so the buyer’s settlement figures reflect the reduced (or zero) duty from the outset. That means the loan quote can be built around the net duty, keeping the LVR lower and potentially avoiding LMI altogether if the deposit plus concession keeps the LVR at or below 80%.

What is the WA FHOG and who qualifies in 2026-27?

The Western Australian First Home Owner Grant remains a flat $10,000 for eligible transactions. It is available only for new homes — a newly constructed dwelling, an off-the-plan purchase, or a substantially renovated home that has not been previously occupied or sold as a place of residence. Established homes do not qualify for the FHOG.

The value cap for the FHOG sits at $600,000 for a new home south of the 26th parallel (which covers Perth and the vast majority of the state’s population) and $750,000 north of the 26th parallel. The grant is not means-tested on income, and there is no minimum occupation period beyond the requirement that the buyer moves in as their principal place of residence within 12 months of settlement and lives there for a continuous period of at least six months.

The $10,000 arrives as a cash payment after settlement, not as a discount at the settlement table. From a loan-structuring perspective, this matters: the FHOG cannot be used to fund the deposit or the duty shortfall at settlement unless the lender has a specific FHOG-as-deposit product. Most lenders will treat the grant as a post-settlement receipt, which means the borrower still needs to show genuine savings for the funds-to-complete. A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can identify which lenders will accept the FHOG as part of the deposit contribution upfront, which can materially change the loan amount required.

How does the 7% foreign purchaser surcharge affect the loan quote?

Western Australia imposes a 7% foreign purchaser surcharge on top of the general transfer duty for residential property acquired by a foreign person. The surcharge is calculated on the full dutiable value and is payable in addition to the general duty — it is not a replacement scale.

For a foreign buyer purchasing a $700,000 established home in Perth, the general duty under the scale above is $11,115 plus 4.75% of the $340,000 excess over $360,000, which yields $11,115 + $16,150 = $27,265. The 7% surcharge adds $49,000, bringing the total duty bill to $76,265. That is over 10.9% of the purchase price in transfer duty alone.

This cost cannot be absorbed into a standard 80% LVR loan without blowing out the deposit requirement. A foreign buyer who needs to fund $76,265 in duty plus a 20% deposit on $700,000 — another $140,000 — faces a total cash requirement of $216,265 at settlement, before any lender’s mortgage insurance or other costs. The APRA serviceability buffer of 3% further compresses borrowing capacity, because the assessment rate applied to the loan will be roughly 3 percentage points above the product rate, and the higher loan amount needed to cover the surcharge pushes the debt-to-income ratio closer to the 6x DTI cap that banks must manage within the 20% portfolio limit.

Foreign buyers should also be aware that the first-home duty concession and the FHOG are generally not available to foreign purchasers. The surcharge applies regardless of whether the property is new or established, and it is not refundable if the buyer later becomes a permanent resident — though some transitional relief may apply in specific circumstances.

How does WA stamp duty compare with QLD, SA and TAS for a first-home buyer?

The first-home stamp duty landscape across Australia has diverged sharply by mid-2026, and a borrower who is location-flexible can see large differences in funds-to-complete purely from the duty treatment.

In Queensland, the 2026-27 first-home concession for a new build or vacant land to build on carries no price cap — a first-home buyer purchasing a new home at $900,000 pays zero transfer duty. WA’s concession, by contrast, phases out completely at $700,000 metro and $750,000 regional, and applies to both new and established homes. A WA buyer at $900,000 pays full general duty of roughly $37,468, while a QLD buyer at the same price on a new home pays nothing. That is a $37,000-plus difference in funds-to-complete, which directly alters the deposit size and LMI position.

South Australia’s uncapped new-build relief operates similarly to QLD’s — full exemption for new homes and off-the-plan purchases with no upper price limit — but established homes are excluded entirely. WA’s concession is more generous for established-home buyers because it covers both new and existing dwellings, provided the value stays within the phase-out range. A first-home buyer targeting an established home in Adelaide gets no SA duty relief at all; the same buyer in Perth at $550,000 gets a partial concession that reduces the duty bill by several thousand dollars.

Tasmania’s established-home relief, which previously offered a 100% exemption up to $750,000, expired on 30 June 2026. For settlements from 1 July 2026 onward, a TAS first-home buyer purchasing an established home pays the full general duty scale. WA’s concession therefore stands as one of the remaining pathways for an established-home buyer to reduce or eliminate duty in 2026-27, albeit within a tighter value band than Tasmania’s former scheme.

How does the duty cost interact with APRA’s 3% buffer and DTI limits?

Stamp duty is a settlement cost, not a recurring expense, but it shapes the loan quote in two critical ways: it determines the upfront cash requirement, and it influences the loan amount — which in turn determines the assessed repayment under APRA’s serviceability test.

APRA requires lenders to assess a borrower’s ability to repay at the product rate plus a 3.0 percentage-point buffer. If a borrower takes a larger loan to cover the duty cost — by reducing the deposit or borrowing more against the property — the assessed monthly repayment rises by roughly 3 percentage points of interest on that incremental debt. On a $30,000 duty bill financed into the loan, the buffer adds approximately $900 per year in assessed servicing cost, which can be enough to tip a marginal application over the lender’s debt-service ratio limit.

The DTI overlay, effective from February 2026, means banks must keep new lending at a DTI of 6 or above within 20% of their portfolio. A borrower who stretches the loan to cover duty is simultaneously lifting their DTI. If the duty cost pushes the loan amount from, say, $480,000 to $510,000 on a $90,000 income, the DTI moves from 5.33 to 5.67 — still below 6, but with less headroom for other debts. A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can run the precise DTI calculation against the lender’s current portfolio position, because some lenders may be approaching their 20% cap and pricing or declining accordingly.

Data basis and sources — as at July 2026

The duty scales, first-home concession thresholds, FHOG amount, foreign surcharge rate, and regional boundary definitions in this article are drawn from the Western Australian Department of Treasury and Department of Finance, as confirmed by RevenueWA and the Office of State Revenue for the 2026-27 financial year. The APRA serviceability buffer of 3% and the DTI portfolio limit of 20% for loans at DTI ≥6 are sourced from APRA’s published prudential standards and its May 2026 confirmation of the buffer rate. All figures reflect the law and administrative practice as at July 2026. Where a transaction spans a financial year, the duty is generally calculated at the rates in force on the settlement date, not the contract date. Borrowers should have their specific dutiable value and eligibility assessed through the Duties Online system at the point of settlement, and any loan quote should be built off that system-generated figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the WA first-home concession apply to off-the-plan apartments?

Yes. An off-the-plan apartment is treated as a new home for both the duty concession and the FHOG, provided the buyer meets the eligibility criteria — principally that they are a first-home buyer, will occupy the property as their principal place of residence, and the dutiable value falls within the concession thresholds. The concession is calculated on the dutiable value at settlement, which for off-the-plan purchases may be lower than the contract price if construction has not commenced, because the value of the construction work is deducted.

Can I use the FHOG as part of my deposit?

The $10,000 FHOG is paid after settlement in most cases, so it does not reduce the funds you need to bring to the settlement table unless your lender has a specific product that recognises the grant as a deposit contribution upfront. Some lenders do offer this; others do not. A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can confirm which lenders will structure the loan to treat the FHOG as part of the deposit, which can reduce the genuine savings requirement by $10,000.

What happens if I buy just above the $700,000 metro phase-out cap?

At $700,000, the first-home concession reaches zero. A purchase at $701,000 attracts full general duty — $11,115 plus 4.75% of the $341,000 excess over $360,000, which works out to $27,313. The difference between a $699,000 purchase (with a small residual concession) and a $701,000 purchase (full duty) can be several thousand dollars in duty alone. This is a hard cliff in the phase-out scale, and it directly affects the funds-to-complete calculation.

Does the foreign surcharge apply to permanent residents?

No. The 7% foreign purchaser surcharge applies only to a person who is a foreign person under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 (Cth) and the WA Duties Act. Australian citizens, permanent residents, and New Zealand citizens holding a special category visa are generally not foreign persons for this purpose. Temporary residents, foreign companies, and foreign trusts are typically caught.

Is the WA duty scale different for investment properties?

No. Western Australia does not operate separate duty scales for owner-occupiers and investors, unlike the ACT which has a concessional owner-occupier scale. The general scale applies regardless of the intended use of the property. The first-home concession, however, requires owner-occupation, so an investor who is also a first-home buyer cannot claim the concession.

Where to Go From Here

Policy settings tell you the size of the cheque you need at settlement; they do not tell you whether the loan behind it actually works. If you want the duty, deposit, LMI and assessed repayment modelled together against your real income and commitments, a licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can review your position and come back to you within one business day.

This article is general information only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Rates, thresholds and eligibility rules change. Confirm your own position with the ATO, the relevant state or territory Revenue Office, or a licensed adviser before acting.