First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Concession South East Melbourne, The 2026 Guide
Stamp duty is one of the biggest upfront costs standing between a first home buyer and settlement, and in Victoria the concession can remove it entirely, or reduce it significantly, depending on what you pay. If you're buying your first home in South East Melbourne, understanding exactly where the thresholds sit, and what that means for the stock actually available here, changes how you plan your purchase.
Victoria treats new and established homes the same for first home buyer duty purposes, which is genuinely useful. A full exemption applies up to $600,000, and a sliding concession runs to $750,000. Above that, you pay full duty, and in South East Melbourne, where house medians run from $1,280,000 in Moorabbin to well over $3 million in Toorak, the duty story for first home buyers is almost entirely a unit story.
Our team helps first home buyers across South East Melbourne work out what they can realistically buy and what each upfront cost means for their deposit, comparing across 60+ lenders. The first home loan side of it is where most of the difference is made.
Key takeaways
- Full duty exemption applies on purchases at or below $600,000.
- Concessions taper to zero above $750,000, where full duty applies.
- Every house median in South East Melbourne sits above the $750,000 ceiling.
Does the Victorian stamp duty concession actually apply to South East Melbourne first home buyers?
Yes, but in South East Melbourne it applies almost exclusively to units. Every approved suburb's house median sits above the $750,000 concession ceiling, which means a first home buyer purchasing a house here pays full transfer duty, with no concession available. The concession is real and useful for unit buyers: 22 of the 28 suburbs in this area have a unit median under the $950,000 cap, and seven have unit medians under the $600,000 full exemption threshold, including St Kilda at $512,000, Windsor at $530,000 and Oakleigh at $580,000.
How does the Victorian first home buyer duty concession work?
Victoria's duty concession for first home buyers works on a sliding scale tied to the dutiable value of the property, which is the greater of the contract price and market value. Full exemption removes duty entirely at or below $600,000. Between $600,001 and $750,000, a partial concession reduces the duty on a sliding scale, with the benefit tapering to zero at $750,000. Above that, full duty applies.
Unlike some other states, Victoria treats new and established homes identically for this concession. Whether you're buying off the plan, an existing unit or a house, the same thresholds apply. You need to be an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and at least one purchaser must live in the home for a continuous 12 months, starting within 12 months of settlement.
The concession is available once. It cannot be combined with the pensioner concession, though the First Home Owner Grant can still be claimed alongside it where you qualify for both.
What the thresholds mean in practice:
- › At or below $600,000: full exemption, no duty to pay at all.
- › $600,001 to $750,000: partial concession on a sliding scale, reducing as the price rises.
- › Above $750,000: no first home buyer concession, full duty calculated on the full amount.
- › Calculating your exact figure: use the State Revenue Office Victoria duty calculator for your purchase price rather than estimating from the scale.
Source: State Revenue Office Victoria.
We often see first home buyers assume the concession will help them with a house purchase, then discover at the contract stage that the price puts them above the threshold entirely. In South East Melbourne, the concession genuinely matters for unit buyers, and the question is whether the unit budget also supports their deposit and borrowing position at the same time.
Evelyn Clark · Director, Mortgage & Finance Broker · Chat to Evelyn →
What other government schemes can first home buyers use in South East Melbourne?
The duty concession sits alongside several other schemes that can work together on the same purchase, and understanding which ones apply to your situation changes the total upfront cost significantly.
The schemes worth weighing:
- › First Home Guarantee (5% Deposit Scheme): 5% deposit · no LMI · no income test · South East Melbourne price cap $950,000
- › Family Home Guarantee: single parents · 2% deposit · no LMI · first home buyer status not required · $950,000 cap
- › First Home Owner Grant:$10,000 cash · new homes only · $750,000 purchase price cap · at least one buyer must be citizen or permanent resident
- › Help to Buy (federal shared equity): government co-purchase up to 40% on new builds · income caps $103,000 single / $165,000 joint (2026-27) · $950,000 cap
- › Off-the-plan duty concession (temporary): available to all buyers including investors · strata units and townhouses only · contracts before 21 April 2027 · deducts construction costs from dutiable value
The Victorian Homebuyer Fund is closed to new participants, so Help to Buy is currently the only shared-equity pathway open to South East Melbourne buyers.
Source: State Revenue Office Victoria and Housing Australia.
How much can first home buyers borrow in South East Melbourne, and what does the duty concession change?
Your borrowing capacity is set by your income, existing debts and living expenses assessed against a serviceability buffer of 3.0% above the actual loan rate. The duty concession does not change what you can borrow, but it changes how much of your deposit stays intact at settlement, which directly affects your LVR and whether you can avoid lenders mortgage insurance.
On a $580,000 unit purchase in Oakleigh, paying zero duty instead of the full amount means thousands more sitting in your deposit at settlement rather than going to the State Revenue Office. For a buyer with a 10% deposit saved, that difference can be the margin between needing LMI and avoiding it, or between qualifying for the First Home Guarantee and falling just short on genuine savings.
CoreLogic data shows unit medians across the area range from $470,000 in Ripponlea to $935,000 in Bentleigh, with seven suburbs sitting under the full exemption threshold. South Yarra units at $525,000 and Prahran units at $500,000 are both inside the full exemption band.
Source: CoreLogic (via YIP, June 2026).
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When does the stamp duty concession not make sense as the deciding factor?
The concession is real money saved, but it's not the right lens for choosing what to buy. A first home buyer who stretches to $748,000 specifically to stay inside the concession band, when a $760,000 property better suits their needs and borrowing position, is saving a small duty reduction while taking on a loan that may not serve them well over time. The duty saving tapers to nearly nothing at the top of the band anyway.
Similarly, the $750,000 cap on the First Home Owner Grant creates a similar planning trap for off-the-plan unit buyers. The grant applies only to purchases at or under $750,000, so a $760,000 off-the-plan contract misses both the grant and sits above the concession ceiling. Whether that combination is worth negotiating around depends entirely on your overall position, not on the threshold alone.
For a buyer whose deposit is already strong and whose borrowing capacity is well above what they need, the duty saving matters less than the property itself. For a buyer at the margin of deposit or serviceability, it matters a great deal. Those are different conversations, and they start with the loan structure, not the duty table.
How to buy your first home in South East Melbourne using the stamp duty concession, step by step
Step 1: Talk to us
We start by working out your borrowing capacity, genuine savings position, and which schemes you qualify for, so you know what you're working with before you look at a single property.
Step 2: Map the duty and scheme picture for your target price range
We match your target price to the concession thresholds, the First Home Guarantee cap and the FHOG eligibility, so you know exactly what each scenario costs upfront and how it affects your deposit at settlement.
Step 3: Match you to the right lenders and apply
We identify which lenders on our panel best suit your income type, deposit size and any scheme you're using, then prepare and submit the application with the documentation lenders actually want to see.
Step 4: Manage approval through to settlement
We stay across the valuation, any lender conditions, and the settlement timeline, so nothing falls through the gap between finance approval and keys in hand.
Where I'd focus a first home buyer's attention in South East Melbourne is the unit market in suburbs like Prahran, Windsor or South Yarra, where you can often land inside the full exemption band, qualify for the First Home Guarantee, and still be buying close to the city. The combination of no duty and no LMI in the same transaction makes a material difference to how much deposit you're walking away with post-settlement.
Evelyn Clark · Director, Mortgage & Finance Broker · Chat to Evelyn →
What goes wrong when first home buyers rely on the stamp duty concession?
Where buyers lose ground:
- › Assuming the concession applies to a house: no house median across South East Melbourne falls inside the $750,000 concession ceiling. Buyers who plan their deposit around a duty saving on a house are modelling a concession that doesn't exist for their purchase.
- › Missing the FHOG cap on off-the-plan contracts: the First Home Owner Grant requires a purchase price at or under $750,000. A contract at $780,000 for an off-the-plan unit misses the grant entirely, even if the property is brand new. Checking price against both thresholds before signing prevents a costly surprise.
- › Not accounting for residency requirements: the concession requires at least one buyer to move into the home within 12 months and live there continuously for 12 months. Buyers who plan to rent the property out, or take a long time to settle in, can find the concession clawed back after the fact.
- › Combining the pensioner concession with the first home buyer concession: you must choose one or the other. Applying both results in reassessment and can mean a duty bill arrives well after settlement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Victorian duty concession apply to established homes as well as new builds?
Yes, Victoria applies the same exemption and concession thresholds to both established and new homes. The property type doesn't change whether you qualify, only the purchase price does.
Can first home buyers in South East Melbourne use the duty concession and the First Home Guarantee together?
Yes, both can apply on the same purchase. The duty concession is a state benefit and the First Home Guarantee is a federal scheme, and they do not exclude each other, which makes the combination particularly useful for unit buyers under $600,000.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available on top of the stamp duty concession in Victoria?
Yes, where you qualify for both, they stack. The $10,000 grant applies to new homes only at $750,000 or under, while the duty concession covers new and established homes using separate thresholds.
Which South East Melbourne suburbs have unit medians inside the full duty exemption band?
Seven suburbs currently sit under the $600,000 exemption threshold: St Kilda, Balaclava, Ripponlea, Prahran, Windsor, South Yarra and Oakleigh. Medians shift over time, so verify with a broker before acting on any figure.
How does the off-the-plan duty concession differ from the first home buyer concession?
The temporary off-the-plan concession is available to all buyers, including investors, and reduces the dutiable value by deducting construction costs. The first home buyer concession is a flat exemption or reduction at the point of purchase, with no construction deduction involved.
Should first home buyers use a mortgage broker or go direct to their bank for this kind of purchase?
A mortgage broker, every time. Scheme eligibility, how lenders assess genuine savings, and which panel lenders accept the First Home Guarantee all differ significantly. Your bank is one option, not a benchmark for what's available to you.
Your Next Steps
Getting your first home purchase right in South East Melbourne means understanding which duty thresholds apply to your actual target, how that interacts with your deposit and which schemes you can layer on top. The unit market is where the concession genuinely moves the numbers here, and a few suburbs put you inside full exemption while still buying close to the city.
Ready to find out which lenders will work best for your first home purchase? Contact the EverLend team or call 03 7036 3356. We'll canvas our 60+ lender panel and find the most suitable options for your circumstances.
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External Resources
EverLend · South East Melbourne · Ever Lend Pty Ltd (ACN 625 080 515), authorised under Australian Credit Licence 517192 · General information only - this article does not constitute financial advice. Please consider your own circumstances and seek professional advice before making any financial decisions.
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