Closing Costs in New York: What Buyers and Sellers Actually Pay

A plain-English breakdown of what buyers and sellers actually pay at closing in New York -- mansion tax brackets, transfer taxes, mortgage recording tax, and the line items people most often underestimate.

Most home buyers and sellers focus on the sale price and forget that closing costs in New York run well beyond a typical rule-of-thumb percentage. New York -- and New York City in particular -- layers on taxes and fees that don't exist in most other states, so a number that sounded fine in a national personal-finance article can be badly wrong here. Here is what actually shows up on a New York closing statement, and who pays for it.

What buyers typically pay

Buyers in New York generally spend between 2% and 6% of the purchase price on closing costs, on top of the down payment. The bulk of that range comes from a handful of recurring items:

Mortgage recording tax -- charged whenever a mortgage is recorded against the property. In New York City it runs 1.8% of the loan amount below $500,000 and 1.925% at $500,000 and above; outside the city, on Long Island, it's closer to 1.05%-1.3% depending on the county.
Title insurance -- typically $2,000 to $3,500, protecting the buyer (and lender) against defects in the property's title.
Attorney fees -- New York is an attorney-state for real estate closings. Expect roughly $2,500-$4,000 in NYC and $1,500-$3,000 on Long Island.
Appraisal and loan origination -- an appraisal usually runs $400-$750, and lenders typically charge 0.5%-1% of the loan amount in origination fees.
The mansion tax, if the purchase price is $1 million or more -- see below.

The NYC mansion tax, explained

The mansion tax is a buyer-paid tax on residential purchases of $1 million or more in New York City. It is not a marginal tax -- once the price crosses into a tier, the entire purchase price is taxed at that tier's rate, not just the amount above the threshold. As of 2026, the brackets are:

$1.0M-$1.99M: 1.00%
$2.0M-$2.99M: 1.25%
$3.0M-$4.99M: 1.50%
$5.0M-$9.99M: 2.25%
$10M-$14.99M: 3.25%
$15M-$19.99M: 3.50%
$20M-$24.99M: 3.75%
$25M and up: 3.90%

Because the tax jumps to the next full rate at each threshold, a purchase priced at $995,000 and one priced at $1,000,001 can differ by tens of thousands of dollars in tax alone -- pricing a deal a few thousand dollars under a tier line is a common negotiating point for exactly this reason.

What sellers typically pay

Sellers carry a heavier load -- typically 8% to 10% of the sale price -- mostly because the broker commission is a seller expense in New York. Beyond commission, sellers are also responsible for:

New York State transfer tax -- 0.4% of the sale price under $3 million, rising to 0.65% for residential sales of $3 million or more.
NYC Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT) -- 1% of the price for sales of $500,000 or less, and 1.425% for sales above $500,000. This applies only within New York City; Long Island sellers don't pay it.
Attorney fees -- generally in the same $2,000-$3,500 range as buyer-side fees.
Co-op flip tax, if applicable -- many co-op buildings charge sellers 1%-3% of the sale price (or a per-share formula) on transfer, on top of everything above.

Co-ops add their own layer

Co-op transactions in New York carry costs condo and single-family sales don't. Beyond the flip tax, expect a board application fee, a move-in/move-out deposit, and sometimes a per-unit transfer fee charged by the managing agent. These vary building by building, so ask for the house rules and a fee schedule before making an offer, not after.

NYC versus Long Island

The single biggest difference is the mansion tax and the RPTT, both of which apply only inside New York City. A $1.2 million purchase in Nassau or Suffolk County skips the mansion tax and the city transfer tax entirely, which is one reason the same closing-cost percentage can produce very different dollar amounts depending on which side of the city line the property sits.

The bottom line

Closing costs are negotiable in places -- who pays which fee is sometimes a term of the deal -- but not optional, and they're too easy to underestimate when a listing price is the only number getting attention. Buyers should budget on the higher end of the 2%-6% range for anything over $1 million in NYC, and sellers should model commission plus transfer taxes before setting an asking price. Tax rates and fee schedules change, and every transaction has its own quirks, so confirm current figures with your real estate attorney or lender before you rely on them in an offer.