Stamp duty is the biggest single upfront cost for most Victorian home buyers after the deposit, and with 25 days until the 28 November election, the three main parties are offering very different deals. Labor is largely standing pat, the Coalition wants to scrap duty for first-home buyers up to $1 million, and the Greens would go further for owner-occupiers. Here is how the promises compare, and what they would and would not change.

Labor: keep the current settings

Labor has not proposed major changes to stamp duty.

That means the existing first-home buyer settings continue. First-home buyers pay no duty on homes up to $600,000, and a sliding concession applies up to $750,000. Off-the-plan concessions also continue.

Above $750,000, a first-home buyer pays duty at the general rates. Those thresholds had been unchanged since 2017 as of 2025.

Labor has instead put its property tax focus on land tax and on the foreign owner Surcharge regime, which it has pledged to review if re-elected.

Coalition: no duty for first-home buyers up to $1 million

The Coalition, led by Jess Wilson, would abolish stamp duty for eligible first-home buyers purchasing established or off-the-plan homes worth up to $1 million.

That would save buyers up to $55,000, with about 17,000 households benefiting in the first year.

Those figures do not come from a published costing, and the policy is listed as uncosted.

An uncosted promise is not necessarily unaffordable, but it means voters do not yet have an official estimate of what it would cost the budget each year, or how it would be paid for. Details such as eligibility tests and the start date also remain to be confirmed.

The Coalition has also promised to repeal the short-stay accommodation levy, as set out in its 10-year plan released on 12 May 2026.

Greens and One Nation: broader relief, different targets

The Greens' plan is the broadest. The party would abolish stamp duty for all owner-occupiers, not just first-home buyers, on homes up to $1.1 million, with relief sliding out up to $1.6 million.

It would be funded by a 5.3 per cent land tax on investors holding more than $5 million in residential property.

That funding model shifts part of the burden from buyers to the largest residential investors. How much the land tax would raise, and whether it would fully cover the lost duty, has not been set out in the summaries.

One Nation would raise the foreign purchaser duty on residential property.

It would also abolish the 10 per cent duty on home, contents and car insurance. That is a less visible tax, but one that applies to nearly every household with a policy.

Labor, for its part, has promised to review the 8 per cent Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty if re-elected, so foreign buyer duty is on the table from more than one direction.

Illustrative scenario: four buyers, three policies

Illustrative scenario: consider four hypothetical Victorian buyers and how each party's policy would treat them, based on the summaries above. Actual eligibility would depend on the final legislation.

  • Buyer A, a first-home buyer paying $580,000. Already pays no duty under current settings, so all three parties leave them in the same position.
  • Buyer B, a first-home buyer paying $900,000. Pays general duty today and would under Labor. Under both the Coalition and the Greens, they would pay none.
  • Buyer C, an owner-occupier upgrading to a $1.05 million home. Not a first-home buyer, so the Coalition plan does not help. Under the Greens, they would pay no duty because the price is below $1.1 million.
  • Buyer D, an investor buying a $700,000 unit. No party is offering investor duty relief, and the Greens' land tax would apply only if their residential holdings exceed $5 million.

At the top of the Coalition's range, a first-home buyer at $1 million would save up to $55,000.

The budget, market and federal backdrop

All of this is being debated as property tax Revenue weakens. Victoria's pre-election fiscal update cut land transfer duty and land tax forecasts by about $5 billion over four years.

The state still expects $9.2 billion from land transfer duty this financial year, so any policy that removes duty for a large group of buyers is a significant fiscal decision.

Market conditions also matter. The Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.85 per cent on 3 November, saying "housing prices have fallen significantly". Melbourne values are 7.3 per cent below their level five years ago, according to Cotality.

Lower prices already mean lower duty bills for buyers at the same price point. They also mean more homes fall under fixed thresholds like $600,000 or $1 million.

Victorian stamp duty sits alongside federal tax changes that are now law. Under the Tax Reform No. 1 Act 2026, from 1 July 2027 negative gearing is limited to new builds for properties bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026, with existing holdings grandfathered.

The same Act replaces the 50 per cent CGT discount with cost-base indexation plus a 30 per cent minimum tax for gains accruing from 1 July 2027.

The ABS reported 2,895 private house approvals in Victoria in September, the most of any state. With federal settings favouring new builds, off-the-plan duty concessions may attract more attention from buyers.

What to watch

  • 3 November: caretaker mode began, so no stamp duty changes are expected before the vote.
  • Costings: watch for any official costing of the Coalition and Greens duty plans before polling day.
  • 28 November: election day. All three proposals remain promises until legislation passes.
  • After the election: any change would need legislation and a start date. Buyers signing contracts in the meantime pay duty under current law.