How much does it cost to build a house in Perth?

It's the question we're asked most. The honest answer: a new home is never one number. Your total is made of a few parts:

• The land.
• The house: the design you choose, plus any changes you make to suit you and any upgrades you add.
• Siteworks: getting your block ready to build on.
• Things outside the building contract, like backyard landscaping, a letterbox, a clothesline and a TV antenna.
• Government and loan costs.

Two families building the same design in the same estate can end up with different totals, because their blocks, choices and loans are different. That's a lot to keep track of, but you don't have to do it alone. We put it all together for you, line by line, so you see your full total before you commit to anything.

We don't publish a price per square metre, because it hides all of this. Instead we price a real design on a real block.

You pay a deposit to secure your home when you sign the Preliminary Plans Agreement (PPA). It comes off the house price, not on top of it. WA law caps the deposit a builder can take before work starts at 6.5 per cent of the contract price, for contracts between $7,500 and $500,000.

The rest is paid in stages as your home is built, and your bank pays each one from your loan. The stages are the slab, plate height (walls up to roof level), roof cover, lock-up and practical completion. How much is paid at each stage can vary with your lender, and our broker partner confirms it for your loan.

Siteworks change the most. A flat, sandy block with services at the boundary needs little more than a sand pad. A sloping block needs retaining walls and fill. Clay, rock or old fill needs engineering. Your first costing includes a siteworks allowance for the suburb, called a provisional sum. It's finalised once an engineer has reported on your block, and we walk you through it.

The width of the block decides which designs fit. Many estates also have design rules for the front of the home, the fence or the front garden. We get those rules and the lot details for you, and price the design to suit them.

Your choices are the part you control. Upgrades, a bigger alfresco, stone benchtops, a scullery: each has a clear price, so you decide where your money goes. Every new home is also built to WA's current energy efficiency standard, so insulation and glazing are built in.

Timing matters too. After you sign, there's usually about 4 to 6 months of pre-construction before building starts. That's everything that has to happen first: your land being titled, your loan, the plans and the approvals. How long it takes depends mostly on when your land is titled. That's the day the government registers your block as its own piece of land, with its own title. In a new estate this can be a few weeks or a few months away, and building can't start until it's done. Then building takes about 8 to 10 months. Your loan is drawn in stages during the build, and many lenders only charge interest on what's been drawn so far. Our broker partner shows you what that looks like for your loan.

Stamp duty (transfer duty). When you buy a block and build, duty is normally charged on the land only. First home buyers in WA pay no duty on vacant land up to $450,000, and a reduced rate up to $550,000. For a home the limits are $600,000 and $800,000. These apply to purchases agreed from 7 May 2026. Our settlement agent partner confirms your duty figure.

The First Home Owner Grant. Up to $10,000 if you qualify, for a new home only. In Perth the land and house together must be worth $800,000 or less. Established homes don't get it, which is one of the big advantages of building. Our broker partner lodges the application with your loan.

Loan costs. Expect application and valuation fees, lenders mortgage insurance if your deposit is small, and interest during the build. Our broker partner sets these out for you.

These are the usual surprises. We go through each one with you at the start, so none of them catch you out:

• Rent while you build, and interest on the loan during the build.
• Backyard landscaping and reticulation, a letterbox, a clothesline and a TV antenna, plus blinds or air conditioning if your home doesn't include them.
• A buffer for anything nobody has quoted. We help you set it.

First, our broker partner looks at your finance, and we talk about where you'd like to live. Then we find land that fits, help you choose a design, and our costing team prices it on your block, siteworks included. We help you add up every figure, including the ones outside the contract.

When you're happy, you sign the PPA and pay a deposit to secure your home, and you pay the land deposit to the developer. You sign the building contract with us about 2 weeks later.

Want dated figures for a block and design you like? Leave your details and tell us what you're looking at. We'll come back with what fits now, not a rough guess.