Conveyancing Fees in Victoria (2026): A Line-by-Line Guide

You have two or three conveyancing quotes open in front of you, and the totals do not match. One is several hundred dollars higher than another for what looks like the same job, and nothing on the page explains why.

Every conveyancing quote in Victoria is built from three parts: the professional fee for the conveyancer’s own work, disbursements, and GST. Disbursements are the third-party search and certificate costs paid on your behalf, and GST applies to some lines on a quote and not others. Once you can see which line is which, a gap between two quotes usually has a plain explanation.

This guide walks through each part in turn: what each line means, the published fees behind the common searches and certificates, and what legitimately pushes one quote above another.

What You Are Actually Paying For: The Three Parts of a Conveyancing Quote

The professional fee

The professional fee is what your conveyancer charges for their own time and expertise. That covers reviewing the contract, preparing or checking the Section 32 Vendor Statement, dealing with the other side, and managing the transaction through to settlement. It is the number to look for first on any quote.

Disbursements

Disbursements are the costs a conveyancer pays to government bodies, water corporations and other third parties, then passes on to you. Their prices are set independently of your conveyancer and will vary based on individual characteristics of the property.

GST

GST can be where a gap between two quotes first becomes visible. The professional fee attracts GST like any other professional service. Disbursements are mixed, because the tax treatment depends on how each cost is incurred.

Where your conveyancer pays a fee purely as your agent, the reimbursement is not treated as a taxable supply and no GST is added. Where the charge is made to the conveyancer so they can do their work, GST is payable when the cost is passed on. The ATO’s ruling says that covers common search fees. That is why one line can show GST and the line beneath it does not: two different kinds of charge, not an error.

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How Much Does Conveyancing Cost in Victoria?

Conveyancing prices in Victoria are set firm by firm, and no two fee schedules are identical. Across the industry, published professional fees for a standard residential matter run from the high hundreds to the low thousands of dollars, with disbursements added on top. The exact figure depends on the property, the matter and what the fee includes.

Price is only half of any comparison, because conveyancing services are not all the same quality. The depth of the contract review, how quickly problems are raised and how closely settlement is managed can differ from firm to firm.

A quote at the bottom of the range is only the best deal if nothing important has been left out of it, so weigh what is included as carefully as the number.

Published ranges only take you so far, because the right number depends on the property in front of you. Conveyancing Professionals prices matters through an online conveyancing quote tool for exactly that reason. It itemises the professional fee and disbursements for a specific property rather than quoting a flat range.

The same three-part anatomy applies wherever the property is. Whether you are comparing conveyancing costs in Melbourne or an address in regional Victoria, only the specific figures on the quote change.

What Are Disbursements?

Disbursements are the third-party costs your conveyancer pays on your behalf and passes on to you. The fees behind them are published by the bodies that charge them, which makes them the easiest part of your quote to check.

Common disbursements and their published fees

Published fees for some of the disbursements you are likely to see on a Victorian conveyancing quote:

Disbursement	Published fee	Set by	As at
Title search	About $16 to $42, depending on how it is ordered (GST exempt as charged by LANDATA)	Land Services Victoria / LANDATA	FY2026-27
Planning certificate	$8.50 electronic, $25.90 paper	Planning and Environment (Fees) Regulations	FY2026-27
Owners corporation certificate	Capped between about $166 and $300 (before GST), by turnaround speed	Owners Corporations Regulations 2018 (regulated cap)	FY2026-27
Water information statement	Approximately $30-$40	Greater Western Water	2025-26 pricing
Property clearance certificate	$20.00	State Revenue Office Victoria	FY2026-27
PEXA fee	$146.30 to $167.42 for a transfer, by number of titles (GST inclusive)	PEXA (platform fee)	FY2026-27

The owners corporation certificate range is not arbitrary. The regulations cap the fee on a sliding scale by turnaround speed.

A six-to-ten-business-day turnaround is capped at 9.64 fee units, rising to 17.35 fee units for a two-business-day turnaround. The fee unit is reset every financial year; at the 2026-27 value of $17.27, the cap spans roughly $166 to $300, before GST.

Each Victorian water corporation sets its own fee for a water information statement, so the amount depends on which one services the property. The figure above is Greater Western Water’s published 2025-26 price. Its 2026-27 prices took effect on 1 July 2026, so treat it as a guide rather than the current number.

The PEXA line is the platform’s own fee for the electronic transaction. It sits alongside the Land Registry’s separate statutory lodgement fee for registering the transfer, which is not listed in the table above.

Including statutory search fees and third-party expenses, disbursement costs are estimated at $250 to $450 for a standard conveyance.

Why the same searches cost different amounts on different quotes

Not every matter needs every disbursement on that list. For example, an owners corporation certificate only applies where there is an owners corporation, and any Caveats, Agreements, or Encumbrances listed on the Certificate of Title will also need to be purchased and included in the Section 32 Vendors Statement. Additionally, the prices of Council and Water certificates will vary depending on the specific Authority.

Two entirely honest quotes can carry different disbursement totals simply because the properties are different, before either conveyancer’s professional fee comes into it. GST follows the tax treatment covered earlier: some costs are reimbursed GST-free while others carry GST when passed on, so read the GST column line by line.

Why Conveyancing Quotes Differ: What Changes the Price

Two quotes for what looks like the same three-bedroom house can sit several hundred dollars apart, and both can be entirely honest. Part of the gap can be the professional fee itself, covered above. When the professional fees are similar, look for something specific about the property, the buyer or the transaction that a flat quote cannot capture.

The property: off-the-plan, owners corporation and subdivisions

An off-the-plan purchase runs for longer than a standard contract, and your conveyancer may have more to review as the build progresses. A property inside an owners corporation brings the certificate into play.

Obtaining it is a seller’s cost for the Section 32, and on the buying side your conveyancer spends time reviewing what it discloses. A subdivision or multi-lot property can mean more than one title in the transfer. PEXA prices a transfer by the number of titles: $146.30 for a single title and $167.42 for multiple titles, in FY2026-27.

The buyer: purchasing through a trust or company

Buying through a trust or a company adds steps for your conveyancer. They confirm who has authority to sign, and check how the purchasing entity affects the transaction. Ask up front how the structure affects the quote, and what any extra work covers.

The sell side: discharge of mortgage and Section 32 preparation

Selling with a mortgage still on the title adds a discharge of mortgage. That is a separate registered dealing on PEXA with its own fee, $27.39 for a single title in FY2026-27, on top of the transfer itself. As a seller you also carry the certificates and searches behind a Section 32 Vendor Statement, which are paid early, before a buyer signs the contract. Selling without an agent does not change that list, only who orders it, which our guide to selling a house privately in Victoria sets out step by step.

Title complexity and work nobody planned for

Sometimes a Title reveals something nobody expected once your conveyancer actually reads it.

Things that show up on a title search but rarely on the initial quote:

• a caveat lodged against the property
• an easement that needs explaining to you or your lender
• a boundary discrepancy between the title and what is on the ground

None of this can be priced before your conveyancer sees it. If something like this changes your quote partway through, ask what triggered the extra work and ask for it in writing. Victorian conveyancers are required to give you written cost disclosure before or when they take you on, or as soon as possible afterwards.

Fixed Fee Conveyancing: What It Covers and What It Does Not

What the fixed fee covers

“Fixed fee” conveyancing means the professional fee for a defined scope of work is set in advance. Disbursements still sit alongside it as their own lines. Fixed describes the professional fee line on the quote, not the total you eventually pay.

The written cost disclosure covered above is where a fixed-fee promise becomes checkable. It should set out the scope the fixed fee covers, what if anything sits outside it, and how disbursements are passed on.

Before you accept a fixed-fee quote, confirm:

• exactly what the fixed scope includes
• what would trigger an additional charge
• how disbursements will be itemised and passed on to you

Fixed fee compared with hourly billing

Some conveyancers bill by the hour or per task instead. Either billing method can be perfectly reasonable. A fixed fee gives you a number to hold the final invoice against. Hourly or per-task billing depends on how much work your matter turns out to need.

How to Compare Conveyancing Quotes Line by Line

Once you know the anatomy of a quote, comparing two or three of them gets simpler. You are mostly asking the same questions of each one. If you are still collecting them, ask each firm for an itemised quote in writing so you are comparing like with like.

Five things to check on every quote

Run every quote you receive through the same five checks:

• Is the professional fee stated as a clear figure, not buried inside a range?
• Is GST shown separately, and is it clear which lines include it?
• What exactly does the fixed fee cover, and what sits outside it?
• What would trigger an additional charge partway through the matter?
• What does the written cost disclosure say if the sale falls through?

Victorian Costs That Sit Outside the Conveyancing Quote

The quote from your conveyancer is not the whole cost of buying or selling property in Victoria. Whether you are reading someone else’s fee page or a quote for your own property, it helps to know which costs sit outside it.

Two costs regularly get confused with the conveyancing quote itself:

• Land transfer (stamp) duty: a separate state tax assessed on the dutiable value of the property, generally the higher of the price paid or market value. You pay it to the State Revenue Office on top of anything your conveyancer charges
• Lender fees and settlement adjustments: charges and adjustments that can sit between buyer and seller, separate from your conveyancer’s own fee

Neither is part of your conveyancer’s own fee, so ask about each one separately before you commit to a figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an average conveyancing fee?

There is no official average. Published fee guides in Victoria put the professional fee anywhere from the high hundreds to the low thousands of dollars, before disbursements. Compare whole itemised quotes rather than a single headline figure.

Is a conveyancer cheaper than a solicitor?

It depends on the firm and the matter, not the job title alone. It is worth understanding the differences between a conveyancer and a solicitor. Then compare a specific quote from each for your own transaction rather than assuming one is always cheaper.

Do conveyancing fees include stamp duty?

No. Land transfer (stamp) duty is a separate state tax paid to the State Revenue Office. It is assessed on the dutiable value of the property and is not part of your conveyancer’s own fee.

When do you pay conveyancing fees?

Timing varies by firm. Victorian conveyancers must give you written disclosure of all costs before or when they take you on, or as soon as possible afterwards. That document sets out payment timing, so ask before you sign.

What happens to conveyancing fees if the sale falls through?

It depends on the terms in your written cost disclosure. Ask what happens if the matter does not proceed before you sign anything, and check that the answer matches what the disclosure document says.