00:002026 could be an expensive year for home ownership, and here's why. Getting approved for a home loan
00:07shows what a lender is willing to finance, but it rarely reflects what owning a home
00:12actually costs month to month. The reality is, the down payment is just the first hurdle.
00:19As of September 2025, the median house price in Australia is nearly $900,000. With a 5.64%
00:27interest rate, that means you're looking at paying nearly $5,000 monthly just for your mortgage.
00:35But once the keys are in hand, plenty of hidden costs also start to show up. Once you've decided
00:41that you're going to buy a specific property, you have to have a conveyancer come and check it to
00:46see if there's any legal issues. Once that's done, you may also need a building inspector to come and
00:50have a look and do a report. There's home and contents insurance, which is usually up to $4,000
00:56a year. For regional and rural buyers, premiums are often even higher due to bushfire, flood exposure
01:05and distance from emergency services. There are a couple of one-off payments that you may not have
01:10considered as well. There's land transfer fees to legally put the property in your name. There's also
01:17lender's mortgage insurance, which is an amount that you pay to the lender to ensure that they're
01:22covered if you were to default on your repayments. The amount you're paying depends on the size of
01:28your deposit and how much you're borrowing and there are ways to waive it. Then come the upfront
01:33government charges. Stamp duty, mortgage registration and transfer fees can total around $10,000 on a house
01:41within the median price range. Stamp duty is the tax you'll pay when you buy a property. The amount that you
01:47will pay varies based on the location of the property and how much it costs to buy. Each state
01:54and territory has different exemptions and rates, so it can be really hard to estimate a national average.
01:59But for a lot of people, especially if you're a first home buyer, you won't have to pay stamp duty
02:03at all. Maintenance and repairs are another pressure point, especially for older homes or larger regional
02:10blocks where fencing, sheds, tanks and driveways all add to the workload and the bill. There's possibly
02:17strata and of course there's annual council fees and depending on where your new postcode may be,
02:24you could be looking at up to $1,900 per year or roughly $160 a month. There's a couple of other
02:33one-off payments that you might not have considered when you buy. There's the land transfer fees which is
02:38paid to legally transfer the property into your name. And then there's the lender's mortgage insurance
02:43which is a fee you pay to the lender to protect them from risks if you were to default on your
02:48repayments. All of these costs together can easily eclipse $3,750 per month before you even count your
02:57mortgage. So the real challenge of home ownership is staying financially comfortable even after the keys
03:04have been officially handed over to you.
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