The DeVito Team · Keller Williams Realty Greater Nassau
Long Island and New York City: the mortgage recording tax, the mansion tax, who pays what, and a calculator.
The short answer: a New York buyer's biggest closing costs are taxes. With a mortgage you pay a mortgage recording tax of 0.8% of the loan in Nassau and Suffolk, and 1.8% (loan under $500,000) or 1.925% in Queens and Brooklyn; a co-op buyer pays none. At $1 million or more you also pay the 1% mansion tax, and in New York City a supplemental tax from $2 million. On a regular resale the seller pays the transfer tax. Title insurance, the lender's charges and your attorney's fee come on top and are quoted, not set as one figure by law.
| Tax | Nassau, Suffolk | Queens, Brooklyn |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage recording tax, your share on the loan amount |
0.8% | 1.8% on a loan under $500,000; 1.925% on a larger loan (1–3 family, condo) |
| Mortgage recording tax, lender's share homes of 1–6 units |
0.25%, paid by the lender, not you | |
| Mansion tax 1–3 family, condo, co-op |
1% of the whole price at $1 million or more | |
| NYC supplemental tax | None | 0.25% at $2 million, rising by bracket to 2.9% at $25 million+ |
On a one- or two-family house the first $10,000 of the loan is excluded from the State's 0.3% additional tax, which takes $30 off. In New York City a loan of $500,000 or more on other property (four or more units, mixed-use, land) pays the City's higher rate: 2.8% in all, of which the buyer pays 2.55% where the lender pays its share. On a building of seven or more units the borrower pays the 0.25% share instead of the lender, and on a home of six or fewer units it is not charged at all when the lender is a private individual or a credit union. Buying in one of the five East End towns? A town transfer tax for the Peconic Bay region is paid by the buyer as well: see the East End tax.
| Area | Median sale | Mansion tax | Mortgage tax, your share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nassau 10,045 sales |
$835,000 | $0 under $1M |
0.8% of the loan |
| Suffolk 13,151 sales |
$690,000 | $0 under $1M |
0.8% of the loan |
| Queens 8,254 sales |
$750,000 | $0 under $1M |
1.8% / 1.925% of the loan |
| Brooklyn 10,614 sales |
$999,000 | $0 under $1M |
1.8% / 1.925% of the loan |
Medians of the last 12 months: Nassau, Suffolk and Queens are closed MLS sales from our county market reports; Brooklyn is sales recorded with the NYC Department of Finance (borough-wide, over $10,000, whole-building transfers excluded). Taxes are the statutory rates on each median, treating the home as residential. The mortgage tax depends on your loan, so it is shown as a rate: put your own loan in the calculator.
Median sale each month — every month stayed below the $1 million mansion-tax line (high $880,000, low $794,000).
October 2025 – October 2026, MLS closed sales. More in our Nassau market report.
Median sale each month — every month stayed below the $1 million mansion-tax line (high $730,000, low $655,000).
October 2025 – October 2026, MLS closed sales. More in our Suffolk market report.
Median sale each month — every month stayed below the $1 million mansion-tax line (high $785,000, low $685,000).
October 2025 – October 2026, MLS closed sales. More in our Queens market report.
Median sale each month — the monthly median reached the $1 million mansion-tax line in at least one month (high $1,100,000, low $951,000).
October 2025 – September 2026, sales recorded with NYC Finance; the City's co-op records are less complete than its deed records.
| Cost | Usually paid by |
|---|---|
| NY State transfer tax (0.4%); NYC transfer tax in Queens and Brooklyn | Seller, by law (the contract can shift it) |
| Mansion tax; NYC supplemental tax | Buyer, by law |
| Mortgage recording tax | Buyer; the lender pays the 0.25% share on 1–6 units |
| Owner's and lender's title insurance | Buyer, generally (per the NYS Department of Financial Services) |
| Title and municipal searches, survey, recording the deed and mortgage | Buyer, by custom |
| Lender charges, appraisal, escrow for taxes and insurance | Buyer |
| Attorney's fee | Each side pays its own |
| Paying off the seller's mortgage and liens | Seller |
| Property taxes, common charges, fuel | Split as of the closing date |
"By law" means the statute names who owes the tax: Tax Law §1404 puts the State transfer tax on the seller and §1402-a the mansion tax on the buyer. "By custom" means it is what New York contracts normally say, and yours can say otherwise. On a co-op sponsor sale and some new-construction sales, the contract usually has the buyer pay the seller's transfer taxes; when that happens in New York City, the City treats the taxes the buyer takes on as part of the price. Selling as well? See what sellers pay at closing, the NYC transfer tax and the New York transfer tax.
These are real costs, but none is one published number, so this page does not price them. Ask for each in writing before you sign.
It depends on where you buy, the price and how much you borrow, because the largest items are taxes set by law. With a mortgage, the buyer pays a mortgage recording tax of 0.8% of the loan in Nassau and Suffolk, and 1.8% of a loan under $500,000 or 1.925% of a larger one in Queens and Brooklyn. At $1 million or more the buyer also pays the 1% mansion tax, and in New York City a supplemental tax starts at $2 million. Title insurance, the lender's charges and your attorney's fee come on top; they are not set as one figure by law, so ask each for a written quote.
Both pay their own. On a regular resale the seller pays the State transfer tax and, in New York City, the City transfer tax. The buyer pays the mortgage recording tax, the mansion tax at $1 million or more and the New York City supplemental tax at $2 million or more, and generally also pays for title insurance, the lender's charges and recording the deed and mortgage. Each side pays its own attorney. A contract can shift costs: on a co-op sponsor sale and some new-construction sales, the buyer usually pays the seller's transfer taxes too.
In Queens, Brooklyn and the rest of New York City the total tax is 2.05% of a loan under $500,000. At $500,000 or more it is 2.175% on a one- to three-family house or a condo unit, and 2.8% on other property. On a one- to three-family house or a condo unit the lender pays 0.25% of that by law, so the buyer pays 1.8% or 1.925%. It is charged on the whole loan, not only the part above $500,000.
In Nassau and Suffolk the total is 1.05% of the loan: the State's basic tax of 0.5%, its additional tax of 0.3%, and a special additional tax of 0.25% that the lender pays on a home with six or fewer units. So the buyer pays 0.8%. On a one- or two-family house the first $10,000 of the loan is excluded from the additional tax, which takes $30 off.
No. A co-op loan is secured by the apartment's shares and lease, not by a recorded mortgage on real property, so no mortgage recording tax is due; NYC Finance says so directly for co-op apartments. A co-op buyer does still pay the mansion tax at $1 million or more, and the lender files a UCC financing statement and runs a lien search instead of recording a mortgage.
It is a State tax of 1% of the whole price on a home of $1 million or more: a one- to three-family house, a condo unit or a co-op apartment. The buyer pays it. In New York City a supplemental tax is added from $2 million, so the buyer's combined rate is 1.25% at $2 million and rises with the price to 3.9% at $25 million or more.
Partly. Title insurance rates in New York are subject to approval by the New York State Department of Financial Services: insurers, or the rate organization TIRSA on their behalf, file their rates and rules, and the premium follows that filed rate manual for the policy amount. The Department says the buyer is generally responsible for both the owner's policy and the lender's policy. Search, recording and other charges on a title bill are separate items, so ask for an itemized estimate.
For a buyer with a mortgage, yes: New York City adds its own mortgage recording tax of 1% or 1.125% of the loan on top of the State's, so the buyer's share is 1.8% or 1.925% in Queens and Brooklyn against 0.8% in Nassau and Suffolk. In New York City the seller also pays a City transfer tax, and buyers at $2 million or more pay the supplemental tax.
The median sale over the last 12 months was Nassau $835,000, Suffolk $690,000, Queens $750,000, Brooklyn $999,000. Each is below $1 million, so the buyer of a median-priced home pays no mansion tax; it applies to the whole price once a home reaches $1 million.
Joseph DeVito is a New York Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker and a New York attorney. He does not act as both broker and attorney on the same transaction: here he acts as a real estate broker only, and he is not your attorney. Real estate services provided through Keller Williams Realty Greater Nassau are not legal representation. Everything on this site is general information for educational purposes only. It is not legal advice, it creates no attorney-client relationship, and it should not be relied on as legal advice — for advice about your own situation, consult your own attorney.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice for your purchase. The type of property, the loan, exemptions and the contract all change what is owed, so confirm every figure with the attorney handling your closing. We do not recommend lenders, title companies or attorneys.
Buying your first home? See first-time home buyer programs on Long Island and in New York City.
Before you sign: a buyer’s home inspection checklist for Long Island.
