How to Sell a House in Australia (2026)

When is the right time to sell?

Three questions matter more than the season: where the local market is in its cycle, what your equity position looks like, and whether you have a credible plan for where you’ll live next. Get those right and you can sell well at any point in the year.

Australian property markets are heavily local. National headlines don’t tell you much about what’s happening on your street. Before you list, check three things in your immediate suburb:

• Days on market. Trending down means buyer activity is high. Trending up suggests softness.
• Auction clearance rate (in capital cities). Above 70% indicates a strong sellers’ market. Below 55% means buyers are setting the price.
• Stock levels. How many comparable properties are on the market right now? Lots of competing listings dilutes attention.

Seasonally, spring is the peak listing window in most of Australia because gardens look their best and there’s typically more buyer activity. But that means more competing stock — a well-presented property listed in late autumn often achieves a stronger result because the buyer pool isn’t spoilt for choice. The right time is the time that matches your circumstances, not a date on the calendar.

What it costs to sell

Plan for total selling costs of 2.5% to 4% of the sale price, before any capital gains tax. On a $900,000 sale that’s $22,500 to $36,000. The components:

• Agent commission: 1.5% to 3% of sale price, plus GST. Negotiable, especially above $1.5M.
• Marketing: $3,000 to $10,000 typical, $15,000+ for premium campaigns with drone, video and broad print. Paid by seller separately from commission.
• Conveyancing: $800 to $2,500 depending on state and complexity.
• Mortgage discharge: $300 to $700 in lender fees.
• Pre-sale prep: cleaning $300 to $800, decluttering / removalist for staging $500 to $2,000, styling $3,000 to $8,000 for a 6-week campaign, minor repairs as needed.
• Auction fees (if auctioning): $400 to $800 for the auctioneer, often bundled into commission.
• Capital gains tax: only on investment properties — see the tax section.

Preparing the house

Spend money on presentation, not renovation. The data is consistent: cosmetic work (cleaning, decluttering, paint, styling) typically returns 3 to 10× its cost. Structural work (new kitchen, bathroom renovation, extensions) rarely returns its cost at sale — you’re better off pricing the property as-is and letting the buyer choose their own finish.

High-ROI presentation work, in order:

1. Deep clean the whole house. Windows, oven, grout, light fittings. Cheap, transformative.
2. Declutter aggressively. Half the contents of every cupboard goes to storage. Buyers can’t see space behind your stuff.
3. Touch-up paint on scuffed walls and skirting. Full repaint only if multiple rooms are obviously tired.
4. Fix obvious defects a building inspector would flag: leaking taps, loose door handles, cracked tiles, missing flyscreens.
5. Garden tidy. Mowed lawn, edged paths, weeded beds, pressure-washed driveway. Kerb appeal sets the tone for every walk-through.
6. Professional styling for vacant or sparsely-furnished homes. $3K to $8K for a 6-week campaign, almost always returns 5× to 15× its cost.

What notto do: don’t renovate the kitchen or bathroom before selling. The cost recovery is poor — the buyer who pays for renovation prefers to choose their own finishes anyway. Read our renovation cost guide if you’re considering it.

Choosing an agent

The agent you pick will probably have more influence on your sale price than anything else you do. Cover the full process in our dedicated guide — how to choose a selling agent. The short version:

• Interview at least three agents who genuinely sell in your suburb (check their recent sold listings on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au).
• Demand comparable sales evidence for any appraisal price. Last 90 days, same suburb, similar property type.
• Watch for the "over-quote, then condition you down" play — agents who quote 10%+ above the others without supporting evidence are using it as a sales tactic.
• Negotiate commission, but don’t pick on price alone. A 0.3% commission saving on $1M is $3,000. A 2% lift in sale price is $20,000. Pick the agent who’ll get you the higher price, then negotiate the fee.
• Read the listing agreement carefully: exclusive period, marketing commitment, tail clause length, termination terms.

Auction vs private treaty

The two main sale methods in Australia. Each has clear use cases.

Auction

Best for properties with broad market appeal in active markets — sub-median homes in popular suburbs, period houses with character, anything where competition is plausible. The campaign is short (three to four weeks of marketing then auction day), the buyer pool is focused, and the unconditional sale on auction day removes post-contract risk.

Auction works less well in quieter markets, for unique properties where buyer demand is narrow, or when the local clearance rate is below 55%. If the property is passed in on auction day, you’ve signalled to subsequent buyers that demand was thin — that often depresses the eventual sale price.

Private treaty

Best for unique homes, quieter markets, regional areas where auction culture is weaker, and sellers who want price certainty. The campaign runs four to six weeks (or longer), the price is publicly listed, and the buyer makes a written offer subject to negotiation. Contracts can be conditional on finance, building and pest, and other due-diligence items — which both expands your buyer pool and introduces post-contract risk if those conditions aren’t met.

Other methods

Expressions of interest (EOI) is essentially a deadline-driven private treaty: written offers due by a set date, then the seller negotiates with the highest bidders. Used for higher-end properties where the seller wants to control the negotiation and avoid the public theatre of auction.

Off-marketsales happen entirely without a public listing — agents shop the property to their database. Suits sellers who want discretion (and who don’t mind the smaller buyer pool). See our off-market property page.

Setting the price

Price guidance is a science of comparable sales, not optimism. The method:

1. Pull every sale in your suburb from the last 90 days, same property type (house / unit / townhouse).
2. Filter to the most comparable on bedrooms, bathrooms, land size, condition and street appeal. Aim for 5 to 8 truly comparable sales.
3. Adjust each comparable up or down based on real differences (better street: +3%, dated kitchen: -2%, bigger block: +5%).
4. The resulting range is your honest price expectation. Set the auction reserve or private-treaty asking price within it.

Underquoting laws vary by state but the principle is consistent: the advertised price guide must reflect a reasonable price the seller would consider. NSW, VIC and QLD all have explicit underquoting rules and have prosecuted agents who breach them. Your agent will set the guide range; insist they justify it against the comparable sales.

The marketing campaign

A typical $5,000 to $8,000 marketing budget covers:

• Professional photography ($800 to $1,800). Single biggest line item in terms of impact on online click-through. Spend here.
• Copywriting for the listing ($200 to $400, often bundled with photography).
• Floor plan ($150 to $400). Listings with floor plans get materially more enquiries.
• realestate.com.au and domain.com.au listings ($1,500 to $4,000 each for "premiere"-tier visibility, which is essential in competitive suburbs).
• Signboard ($200 to $400).
• Social media boost ($300 to $800 for Facebook / Instagram).
• Open homes (no marketing cost, but the agent’s time and your weekend).
• Optional: drone photography ($400 to $800), video tour ($800 to $1,800), print brochures ($300 to $800), local newspaper ($500 to $1,500), virtual staging if vacant ($500 to $1,200).

For higher-end properties ($2M+), expect $10,000 to $25,000 with broader print spend, premium tiered online listings, drone, and full video tour. Match the campaign to the price point — overspending on a sub-$800K property rarely returns the cost.

Contracts and legal docs

The legal requirement to sell varies by state:

• VIC: Section 32 vendor statement, prepared by your conveyancer before the property is advertised. Includes title, encumbrances, planning, rates, and certain disclosures.
• NSW: Contract of sale with prescribed annexures (title search, zoning, drainage diagram, etc.) before exchange.
• QLD: From 1 August 2025, sellers must provide a prescribed seller disclosure statement before a contract is signed. Pre-2025 contracts were less prescriptive but still required disclosure of certain encumbrances.
• WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT: Each has its own contract form and disclosure regime. Your conveyancer will know the local requirements.

Engage your conveyancer before you list the property. The contract has to be ready when the agent starts marketing, especially for auction (where the buyer signs an unconditional contract on auction day).

Negotiating offers

Once buyers start making offers (private treaty) or bidding (auction), read every offer in context. The headline price isn’t the only thing that matters:

• Conditions. Is the offer subject to finance, building and pest, sale of buyer’s own home, or due-diligence period? Each condition adds risk.
• Deposit. Standard is 10%. A 5% deposit (sometimes accepted) is weaker. A buyer offering 10% on exchange and another 10% on early access shows commitment.
• Settlement length. Standard is 30 to 42 days in most states, 60 days for VIC. A buyer offering a longer settlement may be more flexible on price but leaves you holding the property longer.
• Finance status. Pre-approved buyer is much less risky than buyer awaiting bank approval.
• Chain risk. Buyer needs to sell their own home first? That introduces a second transaction risk to yours.

A clean offer at $880K can be worth more than a $900K offer subject to finance, building and pest, and sale of the buyer’s existing home. Your agent should be guiding you through this — push back if they fixate on the headline number.

Settlement day

Settlement is the transfer of legal title and the exchange of funds. Your conveyancer manages it. You sign transfer documents, the buyer’s funds clear, your mortgage discharges, and the keys change hands. The whole thing typically happens electronically through PEXA (Property Exchange Australia) without anyone physically meeting.

On the day:

• The buyer typically does a pre-settlement inspection that morning. Make sure the property is in the contracted condition.
• Leave instruction manuals, warranties, keys (all of them), garage remotes, alarm codes, and any chattels included in the sale.
• Read the meter and notify utilities — water, electricity, gas, internet — that you’ve sold and want the account closed or transferred.
• Funds typically clear within minutes of settlement. Your conveyancer will pay out your existing mortgage and transfer the balance to your nominated account.

Capital gains tax

If the property was your principal place of residence the whole time you owned it, no CGT applies — the main residence exemption covers the full gain. If it was ever rented out, or it was an investment property, CGT applies on the portion of ownership where it wasn’t your main residence.

The simplified maths: (sale price − selling costs) − (purchase price + buying costs + capital improvements) = the gross gain. Held for more than 12 months as an Australian resident? You get a 50% discount on the gain before adding it to your taxable income for the year. The tax bill can be material — on a $300K gain, an individual in the 37% bracket pays around $55K after the 50% discount.

Get tailored advice from an accountant before you list if any of these apply: investment property, ever rented out, deceased estate, co-ownership change, off-the-plan settlement, or a property where you’ve claimed depreciation. Our CGT calculator gives you a rough estimate.