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Guide · Stamp Duty · SA

South Australia transfer duty — new builds win in 2026.

SA's first-home buyer relief now gives eligible buyers $0 transfer duty on new homes and vacant land with no property value cap for contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024. Existing homes still get the standard schedule — no first-home concession. Here is exactly how it all calculates.

Reviewed · Adam King — 30 years in finance, Sunshine Coast

*Stamp duty schedules current as of May 2026 — confirm with RevenueSA before relying on a figure.*

How SA calculates it

RevenueSA administers what was once called stamp duty and is now formally 'transfer duty' under the Stamp Duties Act 1923 (SA). The dutiable value is the contract price or market value, whichever is higher, and the schedule is marginal — base duty for each band plus a marginal rate on the portion above the band's lower bound. The top marginal rate is indicative 5.5% on amounts above $500,000, which means SA's high-end purchases attract similar duty to NSW outside the premium band. Unlike Queensland or Victoria, South Australia does not run a broad first-home buyer concession on established homes. The relief is structured very narrowly: it applies only to newly-built homes and to vacant land where a new home will be built. If you are a first-home buyer in Adelaide buying an existing home, you pay the full standard schedule. That single design choice changes how most first-home buyer files are structured in SA — many buyers consciously aim at new builds or off-the-plan apartments to use the relief.

SA transfer duty — standard schedule (indicative)

Dutiable valueDuty
$0 – $12,0001.00% on full value
$12,001 – $30,000$120 + 2.00% over $12,000
$30,001 – $50,000$480 + 3.00% over $30,000
$50,001 – $100,000$1,080 + 3.50% over $50,000
$100,001 – $200,000$2,830 + 4.00% over $100,000
$200,001 – $250,000$6,830 + 4.25% over $200,000
$250,001 – $300,000$8,955 + 4.75% over $250,000
$300,001 – $500,000$11,330 + 5.00% over $300,000
Over $500,000$21,330 + 5.50% over $500,000

Indicative SA transfer duty as at 2026-05. Source: RevenueSA (revenuesa.sa.gov.au). Subject to confirmation with the state revenue office before settlement.

Worked example — $650K new build, Mount Barker

  • Standard duty (indicative)

    ~$29,580

    $21,330 + 5.50% × $150,000 ($650K − $500K) — confirm with RevenueSA

  • FHB exemption (new build)

    $0

    Full exemption available — first-home buyer on an eligible new home pays zero duty

  • Savings from the FHB relief

    ~$29,580

    Approximate cash difference between standard duty and the exemption — indicative

  • Foreign-purchaser surcharge

    7% extra

    Additional surcharge on top of standard duty for foreign buyers — indicative, subject to confirmation

First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Relief — the new-build pathway

Introduced by the Malinauskas government in June 2023 and expanded in June 2024, the Stamp Duty Relief for First Home Buyers is the most significant SA-specific concession in this guide. The structure is deliberately narrow: it targets housing supply, not affordability of existing stock. For contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024, an eligible first-home buyer pays no transfer duty on a new home, off-the-plan apartment, house-and-land package, substantially new construction, or vacant land to build a new home. The previous $650K full / $700K partial cap for new homes and $400K / $450K cap for vacant land no longer applies to current contracts. The construction and occupation requirements still matter. RevenueSA assesses post-settlement, and the relief can be clawed back if the construction or occupation criteria are not met. Eligibility tracks closely with other states: at least one buyer must be over 18, an Australian citizen or permanent resident, never have owned residential property anywhere in Australia, and must move in within 12 months and live there for at least 6 continuous months as principal residence. Household income tests are not currently applied — eligibility is property-type and ownership-history based.

Adelaide context

Most local FHB files are *structured around* the new-build relief.

Median established prices in Adelaide's growth corridors — Mount Barker, Munno Para, Andrews Farm, Two Wells, Aldinga — have crept toward and past $600K. The uncapped new-build relief is the cleanest path to zero duty. Established stock in the same suburbs attracts the full standard schedule. Worth modelling both pathways carefully before signing a contract.

Established homes — the standard schedule applies

If you are a first-home buyer in SA and you purchase an existing home — anything that has been occupied or sold previously — there is no first-home stamp duty concession available. You pay the full standard schedule. On a $500,000 established home in Adelaide, that is approximately $21,330 (subject to confirmation). On a $650,000 established home — the same price as our worked example above but existing rather than new — duty is approximately $29,580 indicative, the same as the standard column. The difference between existing and new at this price is around $29,580 of cash you either pay or do not pay at settlement. That single design choice frequently nudges first-home buyers in SA toward off-the-plan apartments in Bowden, Prospect, and Adelaide CBD, or house-and-land in northern and southern growth corridors. The relief is one of the most material first-home benefits available — but only for buyers willing to wait for construction or accept the new-build product mix.

Other SA provisions worth knowing

  • Off-the-plan apartments: SA had a separate off-the-plan concession that has now largely been folded into the FHB new-build relief — for first-home buyers, the relief is the primary mechanism. Other buyers pay standard duty on contract value.
  • Foreign-purchaser surcharge: An additional indicative 7% surcharge applies to foreign buyers on top of standard transfer duty — applies to non-citizen, non-permanent-resident buyers and certain foreign trusts and companies. Confirm current rate with RevenueSA.
  • Family transfers: Transfers of principal residence between spouses are generally exempt. Other family transfers attract duty on market value.
  • Seniors downsizing relief (new from 25 March 2026): SA has no general pensioner duty concession, but there is a separate seniors-downsizing relief for buyers aged 60+ moving to a smaller-land property. Full duty relief applies to a new home or off-the-plan apartment with a dutiable value of $2,000,000 or less (phasing out between $2m and $2.1m, with no relief at $2.1m or more), or to vacant land to build on with a dutiable value of $1,200,000 or less (phasing out between $1.2m and $1.3m, with no relief above $1.3m). One-off per person/couple, for contracts from 25 March 2026. Confirm the current figures with RevenueSA at launch — this is a fresh measure.
  • First Home Owner Grant: SA's separate $15,000 First Home Owner Grant still applies to eligible first-home buyers building or buying a brand-new home. For contracts entered into on or after 6 June 2024, no property value cap applies. It is claimed alongside the duty relief, not instead of it.

When duty becomes payable and how it interacts with LMI

Transfer duty in SA is payable on settlement. Your conveyancer assesses the duty through RevenueSA's online portal and lodges payment, typically on the day of settlement. The title cannot be registered until duty is paid. For most files this is a single payment from savings or borrowed funds. The practical interaction with Lenders Mortgage Insurance is worth modelling carefully. On a $650K new build with the FHB exemption applied, the buyer needs roughly $130,000 deposit (20%) to avoid LMI altogether. With a 10% deposit ($65,000) the lender charges LMI on the loan; with a 5% deposit ($32,500) LMI is higher again. Duty saved through the FHB relief frequently makes the difference between needing LMI and avoiding it — for a typical Adelaide first-home buyer, the ~$29,580 indicative duty saving is meaningfully more than the LMI premium would have been on a slightly higher LVR, but it depends on the deposit you arrive at settlement with. The cleanest workflow: model both pathways (new build with relief vs existing home without) and let the cash-needed-at-settlement decide. For a sense of where to stress-test your numbers, [MoneySmart's buying a home calculator](https://moneysmart.gov.au/home-loans) is a sensible starting point; the authoritative reference for the schedule itself is [RevenueSA](https://www.revenuesa.sa.gov.au).

What this looks like across an Adelaide buyer's typical price points

At $450,000 (existing, established suburb): indicative ~$18,830 standard duty, no FHB concession on existing — cash needed approximately $18,830 plus deposit and costs. At $550,000 (new build, growth corridor): full FHB exemption applies — duty approximately $0 indicative. Same first-home buyer purchasing an established home at the same price would pay approximately $24,080 indicative. At $650,000 (new build): full FHB exemption — approximately $0 duty. The same price existing — approximately $29,580 indicative duty. At $700,000 (new build): full FHB exemption — approximately $0 duty. The same price existing — approximately $32,330 indicative duty. At $800,000 (new build): full FHB exemption — approximately $0 duty for an eligible first-home buyer. At $800K established, the standard schedule applies — approximately $37,830 indicative.

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SA stamp duty — modelled into your *whole* picture.

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General information only — not personal credit advice. Rates and figures shown are indicative and subject to confirmation against current lender pricing and policy.