What does it really cost to sell a house in New Zealand?

Most people sell a home a handful of times in their life, so the bill is unfamiliar every time. The short answer: if you sell through an agent, expect to spend somewhere in the region of 3% to 5% of the sale price on commission, GST, marketing, legal work and preparation. The exact figure depends on the commission you negotiate, how much marketing you approve, and how much you spend getting the property ready. This guide walks through each cost, where it comes from, when you pay it, and how to compare quotes without being misled.

Prices below are advertised or published prices from named New Zealand providers, checked on the dates in the sources list. They are examples, not national averages, because no reliable national average exists for most of these items. Every figure says whether it is plus GST (15%) or inclusive; insist that your quotes do the same.

The full list of selling costs at a glance

Every cost that commonly appears when selling a home in New Zealand. Optional items are marked; several depend on your method of sale or your bank.

Agent commission: how it is structured and when you pay

Commission is the largest cost for almost every seller who uses an agency. The Real Estate Authority's consumer site, settled.govt.nz, describes the usual arrangement as an administration fee of around $500 plus a percentage of the selling price, with the example of 3% of the first $400,000 plus 2% of the balance, and says plainly that commission varies and is usually open to negotiation.

Consumer NZ describes three structures: a single percentage of the whole price; a tiered percentage, with a higher rate on the first part of the price and a lower rate above it; and a fixed or capped fee. Fixed-fee and online agencies publish their prices; most franchise agencies do not, so you will only see their number in a written appraisal. Some set a minimum fee (Arizto's terms state $11,000 plus GST), which matters on lower-priced properties.

Before you sign, the agent must give you the REA's agency agreement guide and a written estimate of the commission in dollars, with the formula and conditions. Commission is normally deducted from the buyer's deposit once the sale becomes unconditional, not paid up front. A sole agency agreement can be cancelled by 5pm on the first working day after you receive your copy, and either party can end it after 90 days.

Marketing packages: who pays, and what is inside

In New Zealand the seller usually pays for the marketing campaign on top of commission (vendor-paid advertising). Settled.govt.nz is direct about the terms: advertising costs generally have to be paid up front, and they have to be paid even if your property does not sell. You can negotiate this and decline extra marketing, although a campaign with no photography or portal presence is unlikely to reach buyers. There is no reliable national figure for what sellers spend; the individual agents and referral sites that publish numbers cluster around $1,500 to $4,000 for a standard residential campaign, more for premium properties. Treat those as industry estimates. The next section shows what one real schedule looks like. Insist on the itemised written plan settled.govt.nz says you should receive, and check each line against the questions below.

A typical package contains photography, a floor plan, a signboard, portal listings (often with a paid placement upgrade), some digital promotion and brochures, and sometimes video, drone imagery or print; realestate.co.nz describes packages that can be dialled up for greater exposure, usually paid for by the vendor.

On portal costs: private sellers pay Trade Me Property directly at published prices, while agencies pay for listings and upgrades under commercial arrangements that are not public. A portal upgrade line on your schedule cannot be checked against a price list, so ask what it does (placement, homepage rotation, email features) and how long it runs.

What a real NZ property marketing budget can look like

Generic estimates only go so far, so we also reviewed a July 2026 New Zealand real-estate agency vendor marketing schedule: the price list an agency hands a seller, with every item shown excluding and including GST. It runs to several pages and covers portal advertising, digital campaigns, photography, video, floor plans, print, signage, property information and auction services. The items below are a selection that shows the main categories and the range of prices, all including GST.

Two things stand out. First, portal placement is the expensive part of an online campaign: a single Trade Me Platinum upgrade on this schedule costs more than the photography, floor plan and video combined. Second, the choices multiply. Each portal has three to eight tiers, digital campaigns come in six, and video comes as day, dusk, reel or bundle. That is why an itemised plan matters more than a package total. To show how the numbers accumulate, here is one illustrative campaign built only from items on this schedule. It is an illustration of how costs add up, not a recommended package, a typical or average spend, or a combined quote from the agency.

Photography, floor plans and video: what NZ providers advertise

Property media is also the one part of the budget you can benchmark against public prices. Seven New Zealand providers publish them; the range is wide and GST treatment is split, so read the last column.

The video line varies most: a short walkthrough from a photographer might be $250 to $425, while a video tour with drone footage, a presenter and a longer edit can be $700 to $1,500. When a package says "video included", ask which it means.

Controlling the video line without dropping video

We exist because the video line is usually the first thing cut when a budget is tight, and we would rather more campaigns had a video than only the expensive ones. If you are selling, ask your agent whether a photo-based listing video would suit your campaign.

Staging, cleaning, repairs and preparation

Settled.govt.nz advises removing clutter, fixing obvious problems such as leaks or broken drains, checking that alterations have consent paperwork, and thinking carefully before major renovations because you may not get the money back.

Home staging is the largest optional item. Across five staging companies with public price lists, full staging of a three-bedroom home is advertised at roughly $1,900 to $3,090 for a five or six week hire, and partial staging from about $1,500. STAGED and Gorgeous Homes quote plus GST ($2,400 and $2,250 for a 3-bed); Homebase quotes about $3,090 inclusive. Extensions are weekly. Match the hire to a realistic campaign: REINZ reported a national median of 50 days to sell in July 2026, so a five-week hire may need extending.

Legal and conveyancing costs

Your lawyer or conveyancer checks the agreement, handles the transfer through Land Information New Zealand, arranges the mortgage discharge and receives the settlement funds. Four firms with published fixed sale fees advertise $1,390 to $2,090 including GST and disbursements: Key Conveyancing ($1,390 with no mortgage, $1,590 with one), ConveyOnline (from $1,499), Kiwi Conveyancing ($1,850) and The Property Law Centre ($1,890 to $2,090, plus a $150 anti-money-laundering check).

The trap is the "from" price: Convey Law advertises a sale "starting from $900" plus GST and disbursements, which is not comparable with an all-inclusive $1,590. Expect surcharges for unit titles or cross-leases, trusts, tenanted properties and more than one mortgage. Legal fees are normally deducted at settlement.

Auction, tender and other method-of-sale costs

Auctions usually carry an auctioneer's fee. The large franchises quote it in the agency agreement rather than publishing it; settled.govt.nz advises checking whether the auctioneer is free or an extra charge. Arizto, which does publish, charges $800 plus GST, non-refundable and paid on signing. Auction and deadline campaigns are often marketed more heavily in a shorter window, which can push the package up.

LIM, builder's report and other documents

A Land Information Memorandum (LIM) and a builder's report are normally buyer costs. Settled.govt.nz lists them as seller costs only if you are providing these for buyers, which some sellers do to speed up decisions in an auction or deadline campaign. Council LIM fees include GST: Christchurch $320 standard, $420 fast track; Auckland $387 standard, $522 urgent; Wellington $575.50 plus $288 for fast track. All three quote up to 10 working days, and Wellington was reported in April 2026 to be running well beyond that, so order early.

Builder's reports are advertised at about $300 to $800 plus GST. Title, code compliance certificates, body corporate records and tenancy agreements cost little but take time to gather.

Mortgage discharge, break costs and holding costs

Repaying the remaining principal on your mortgage is not a selling cost; it is your loan being repaid from the proceeds. Two related items are. The bank's discharge fee is small (Kiwibank publishes $35 for a full discharge). The often-forgotten one is the cost of repaying a fixed-rate loan before the term ends: ANZ's Early Repayment Recovery, ASB's Early Repayment Adjustment, Kiwibank's break cost. No bank publishes a dollar figure because it depends on rate movements and the time left on your term. Ask for a quote before you list.

If you buy before you sell you may need bridging finance, which the main banks describe as a short-term, interest-only loan priced individually. Owning two properties for a period means two lots of interest, rates and insurance: holding costs rather than selling fees, but the same spreadsheet.

A short note on tax

Many owner-occupiers pay no income tax on the sale of their home, but that is not automatic. Inland Revenue's bright-line test applies a two-year period to properties sold on or after 1 July 2024 (longer periods apply to earlier sales), with an exclusion for your main home when your use meets certain criteria. Other property tax rules can apply regardless of the bright-line period, for example if you bought with the intention of resale. Tax depends on your circumstances; if you have owned the property for a short time, rented it out, or own several, talk to an accountant before you sell.

Two worked examples

These are illustrations, not averages; every line is an assumption drawn from the published prices above and your quotes will differ. Both use the settled.govt.nz commission structure (3% of the first $400,000, 2% of the balance, $500 admin) quoted plus GST.

Questions to ask an agent before approving the budget

Where you can compare or reduce costs, and where you should not

• Commission is the biggest lever. Compare two or three written appraisals on the GST-inclusive dollar figure. A lower rate from an agent who cannot sell the property is no saving, so weigh the track record too.
• Decline marketing you do not understand. Ask which items reach buyers for your kind of property. For print, check the quantities, distribution area and purpose of each item and whether it duplicates another package, then drop what does not earn its place.
• Do not cut photography. It is the cheapest line relative to its effect on every other part of the campaign.
• Choose the video format to suit the property. A photo-based video keeps video in the campaign for $199 including GST; an on-site shoot is worth the extra when the appeal depends on things photos cannot carry.
• Shop conveyancing on the all-inclusive price, and check the surcharges for your title type.
• Ask your bank about break costs before you list, because settlement timing can change the figure.
• Match staging hire to a realistic campaign length, or use partial staging if the home is already well furnished.
• Do not chase the cheapest campaign. The aim is the best net result after costs: spend on what brings buyers through the door, negotiate hard on what does not.

If you want to reduce the risk of a slow, expensive campaign, our guide to how to sell your house faster in New Zealand covers pricing, presentation and how to diagnose a campaign that is not producing interest. And if you are trying to judge whether a proposed marketing package is any good, see what a real estate marketing campaign should include.