Conveyancing Costs in Australia

One of the most common questions people ask before buying or selling property is what conveyancing actually costs. The honest answer is that it depends on the transaction, the state you are in, and what is included in the quote you are given. Rather than focusing on figures, which vary from firm to firm and change over time, it is more useful to understand the categories of cost involved and how to compare quotes on a like-for-like basis.

Professional Fees vs Disbursements

Every conveyancing quote is made up of two distinct components, and confusing the two is the single biggest reason people end up surprised by a final invoice. The professional fee is what your conveyancer or solicitor charges for their own time and expertise, covering contract review, liaising with the other side, preparing settlement figures, and managing the transaction from start to finish. Disbursements, by contrast, are the out-of-pocket costs your conveyancer pays to third parties on your behalf, such as government agencies or search providers, and then passes on to you. A quote that lists only a professional fee without mentioning disbursements is incomplete, and you should always ask what else might be added before settlement.

For a residential purchase, disbursements are usually more extensive than for a straightforward residential sale, because a buyer's conveyancer needs to run a series of searches that a seller's side does not. This is one reason buyer and seller quotes are rarely priced the same way, even for the same property.

What Disbursements Typically Cover

Disbursements generally fall into a few recognisable categories. Title searches confirm who legally owns the property and reveal any mortgages, caveats or easements registered against it, and our guide to title searches in Australia goes into more detail on what these actually show. Council and water authority certificates confirm rates, outstanding notices and infrastructure charges tied to the property, and are typically ordered early so any issues can be raised before settlement rather than discovered on the day. Depending on the state and the transaction, there may also be building and pest inspection reordering fees, strata or owners corporation certificates for units, and land tax or foreign resident withholding certificates where relevant.

On top of these search fees, most settlements now involve a fee for electronic lodgement through the PEXA platform, which has largely replaced older paper-based settlement in most parts of the country and is governed by PEXA's own service charter. This is a modest, standard line item rather than something to be concerned about, but it should still appear on your itemised invoice rather than being bundled invisibly into the professional fee.

How to Compare Quotes Properly

Fixed-fee quotes have become the norm for standard residential transactions because they give certainty from the outset, but not all fixed fees include the same things. Some firms quote a low professional fee and then itemise every disbursement separately, while others bundle common disbursements into a single all-inclusive figure. Neither approach is wrong, but you need to know which one you are looking at before comparing two quotes side by side. Ask specifically whether the quote includes title search, council and water certificates, and PEXA lodgement fees, or whether these will be added afterwards.

Hourly billing is less common for standard purchases and sales but still appears for more complex matters, such as a contested property transfer or a transaction with unusual contract conditions. If you are quoted an hourly rate, ask for an estimate of total hours based on a matter similar to yours, and request that you be notified if the scope changes significantly partway through.

Why Costs Vary a Little by State

Search and registration fee structures are set by state land registries and government agencies rather than by conveyancing firms, which means the underlying disbursement costs differ across the country. In New South Wales, title searches and registration go through NSW Land Registry Services, while Victoria uses Land Use Victoria and requires a Section 32 vendor statement to be prepared before a property is even listed, which adds a preparatory step on the seller's side. Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory each run their own land titles offices with their own certificate and search fee schedules. None of these differences are large in isolation, but they do mean a quote that looks slightly different between two states is not necessarily less competitive, it may simply reflect a different underlying fee structure that neither your conveyancer nor the other side's controls.

Questions Worth Asking Before You Commit

Before accepting a quote, it is reasonable to ask whether the fee is genuinely fixed or subject to change if the matter becomes more complex, what disbursements are included versus billed separately, whether the quote covers both a purchase and a related sale if you are doing both, and how settlement timing might affect the total cost. A conveyancer who answers these questions clearly and in writing, rather than verbally, is generally easier to deal with if anything changes later. It is also worth checking how a firm's timeline for a typical transaction lines up with your own expectations, since a longer or shorter settlement window can shift when certain disbursements are incurred.

Understanding the structure of conveyancing costs, rather than chasing the lowest number you can find, puts you in a much stronger position to compare quotes fairly and avoid unpleasant surprises closer to settlement.