The cooling off period on a property purchase is a short legal window after you sign a private-sale contract in which you can change your mind and walk away for a small, fixed cost. It runs 5 business days in NSW, Queensland and the ACT, 4 in the Northern Territory, 3 clear business days in Victoria and 2 clear business days in South Australia. Western Australia and Tasmania have no statutory cooling-off period at all. Nobody gets one at auction.
Pulling out inside the window usually costs 0.25% of the price, which is $2,250 on a $900,000 house in NSW or Queensland. Victoria charges 0.2% or $100, whichever is greater, South Australia lets the vendor keep up to $100, and the Northern Territory charges nothing. Miss the deadline by an hour and the amount at risk is no longer $2,250. It is the whole deposit, often 10%, and potentially whatever the vendor loses reselling. Below: every state's rules side by side, the exclusions that catch people, how to serve a notice that works, and what to finish before the clock runs out.
Cooling off period by state: the comparison table
| State | Length | Clock starts | Cost to withdraw | Waive or shorten? | No cooling-off when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 5 business days (10 off the plan), ends 5pm | On exchange | 0.25% of the price | Waived by a section 66W certificate; shortened or extended by written agreement | Auction; contract made on auction day after a pass-in; contract formed by exercising an option |
| VIC | 3 clear business days | The day after you sign | $100 or 0.2% of the price, whichever is greater | No contract term can remove it | Public auction, or within 3 clear business days before or after one; mainly commercial or industrial property; farms over 20 hectares; company or estate agent buyers; a repeat contract on the same terms |
| QLD | 5 business days, ends 5pm | The day you receive the contract signed by both parties | Up to 0.25% of the price | Yes, by the buyer's written notice to the seller | Auction; a contract with a registered bidder by 5pm on the second clear business day after a pass-in; listed companies and their subsidiaries; buying 3 or more lots at once |
| SA | 2 clear business days | The later of signing and being served the Form 1 vendor's statement | Up to $100 | Waived only with an independent legal practitioner's certificate | Auction, or after the auction on the same day |
| ACT | 5 working days, ends 5pm | When the contract is made | 0.25% of the price | Waived or shortened only with an independent lawyer's certificate | Auction; later on auction day after a pass-in, if you were a recorded bidder; tender; corporate buyers |
| NT | 4 business days | The day the contract is last signed and exchanged | Nothing | Waived, reduced or extended by agreement with the seller | Auction |
| WA | None | n/a | n/a | Exists only if both parties write one into the contract | n/a |
| TAS | None | n/a | n/a | The standard contract has an optional cooling-off clause | n/a |
"Clear" business days means the day you sign does not count. In Victoria the three days run from the day after you sign, and in South Australia the count excludes weekends, public holidays and the day the Form 1 is served.
State by state: the detail that changes the answer
NSW cooling off period
The window closes at 5pm on the fifth business day after the day of exchange: exchange at 10am on a Tuesday and it shuts at 5pm the following Tuesday. Because withdrawing costs 0.25%, NSW buyers commonly pay just 0.25% on exchange and the rest of the deposit (usually 9.75%) before cooling-off ends. The section 66W certificate is the waiver: your own solicitor or conveyancer, who cannot act for the vendor, certifies they have explained what you are giving up. Agents ask for one in competitive campaigns because it makes your exchange as final as a fall of the hammer.
VIC cooling off period
The three clear business days run from the day after you sign, not the day the vendor signs, and Consumer Affairs Victoria says no contract term can remove them. The trap is the auction exclusion: buy within three clear business days before or after a public auction and you get nothing. A pre-auction offer, or the deal you strike on the Monday after a pass-in, usually comes without the safety net.
QLD cooling off period
If the signed contract reaches you on a weekend or public holiday, the clock starts on the next business day. The seller must refund your deposit, less the penalty, within 14 days. You can waive or shorten the period with a simple written notice and no lawyer's certificate, which makes it easy to sign away in a hurry. The statutory warning statement printed directly above your signature line is there to make you stop.
South Australia, the ACT and the NT
In South Australia a successful offer made before an auction does carry cooling-off rights; a purchase at the auction, or later that day, does not. In the ACT neither side owes the other anything beyond the 0.25% forfeit, your rescission notice must be signed by you or your lawyer, and if it is disputed the burden of proving you gave it is on you. In the Northern Territory you can cancel without penalty or explanation.
Western Australia and Tasmania
In WA the signed offer and acceptance binds you once acceptance is communicated, and there is no mandatory cooling-off. Tasmania's consumer regulator says cooling-off is not required under the Property Agents and Land Transactions Act 2016, though an optional clause was added to the standard contract. In both states, the conditions you write into your offer (finance, building and pest) are your only planned exit.
How much do you lose if you pull out? A worked example
Say you agree to buy a $900,000 house by private treaty with a 10% deposit, then a building report turns up something you cannot live with.
| NSW | Victoria | Queensland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The rule | 0.25% of the price | $100 or 0.2%, whichever is greater | Up to 0.25% of the price |
| Cost to withdraw inside the window | $2,250 | $1,800 | Up to $2,250 |
| Deposit exposed once the window closes | $90,000 | $90,000 | $90,000 |
The same house costs $2,250 to walk away from in the ACT, no more than $100 in South Australia, and nothing in the Northern Territory. In WA and Tasmania there is no statutory exit, so an unconditional signature puts the whole deposit at risk from the moment the contract binds.
Add what you have already spent. One inspection firm's August 2026 price guide puts a building and pest inspection on a three-bedroom Sydney house at $500 to $650. Even so, $2,250 to escape a $900,000 mistake is the cheapest insurance in the transaction, and the reason the window should never be signed away casually.
How to give a valid cooling-off notice
- Work out the deadline in writing. The clock starts at exchange in NSW, on receipt of the signed contract in Queensland, the day after you sign in Victoria, and on the later of signing and the Form 1 in South Australia. Confirm the date with your conveyancer the day you sign.
- Write it and sign it. A phone call to the agent is not notice.
- Send it to the right person. In Victoria, Queensland and South Australia that is the seller or the seller's agent. Elsewhere, follow the notice clause in your contract.
- Use a method you can prove. Queensland accepts delivery in person, by email or by fax; South Australia's Law Handbook adds leaving it at the agent's office and registered post. Use two methods and keep the receipts.
- Beat the clock. NSW, Queensland and the ACT close at 5pm. Do not serve at 4:55pm.
What to do inside the cooling-off window
Moneysmart's advice is to use the cooling-off period to get a building and pest report done. Five business days is not long, so run these in parallel from day one, using our property buying checklist to keep track.
- Contract review. Your solicitor or conveyancer reads the special conditions, deposit terms, settlement date and title on day one.
- Building and pest inspection. Book the inspector before you exchange, so the report lands with days to spare.
- Strata report for a unit or townhouse. In NSW the strata information certificate now says more than it used to, as our guide to the 2026 NSW strata reforms explains.
- Finance. Moneysmart describes pre-approval as showing you are eligible to apply for a loan up to a certain amount, which is not the same as a loan. Push for formal approval or at least get the valuation ordered, and a mortgage broker can tell you quickly whether this lender is likely to approve this property.
- Insurance quotes on the exact address, especially anywhere near water. Our flood risk guide explains why a refusal to quote is itself an answer.
- Deposit balance. In NSW the remaining 9.75% is usually due before cooling-off ends. Have it ready.
- Decide on day four, not day five. That leaves time to serve the notice properly.
Cooling-off versus a subject to finance clause
People treat these as the same thing. They are not.
| Cooling-off period | Subject to finance clause | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | Set by each state, in six of eight jurisdictions | A term you negotiate into the contract |
| Reason needed to exit | None | Finance not approved by the date in the clause |
| How long | 2 to 5 business days | Whatever date the contract sets |
| Cost to exit | 0.25%, 0.2%, up to $100 or nothing, by state | Depends on the wording, and only if you follow it exactly |
| Available at auction | No | No |
| Available in WA and Tasmania | No statutory period | Yes, and it is your main protection |
The second column is less forgiving than it looks. In Pearl v Nannegari 2021 VSC 468, Victorian buyers lost a $168,000 deposit after applying through a broker to a different lender from the one named in the clause, then trying to terminate by email after the approval date had passed. The Supreme Court found they had not done everything reasonably required to obtain approval, and the contract had already gone unconditional. Use both protections, and diarise the finance date as carefully as the cooling-off deadline.
Missed the deadline? What happens next
Once the window closes, the contract binds you. South Australia's government guidance says that changing your mind after cooling-off ends could breach the contract: you could lose your deposit and have to compensate the vendor, usually based on their costs of reselling plus any loss on the resale. Under Victoria's standard contract, a vendor can serve a default notice, and if you do not fix the breach within 14 days, rescind, keep the deposit and pursue the shortfall if the house later sells for less.
Your remaining exits are the conditions in your contract and any statutory rights that survive cooling-off. In Queensland, for example, if the seller failed to give you the Form 2 disclosure documents before you signed, or gave you materially inaccurate ones, you may be able to terminate any time before settlement. Talk to your conveyancer before you do anything. Simply not settling is the most expensive option available.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pull out of a house purchase after signing the contract?
Yes, inside the cooling-off period, in every state and territory except WA and Tasmania, and never after an auction. After the window closes you need a contractual condition, such as finance or a building inspection, or a statutory right that still applies. Otherwise you are in breach and the deposit is at risk.
How much do you lose in the cooling off period in NSW?
0.25% of the purchase price, or $250 for every $100,000. On a $900,000 house that is $2,250. That is why NSW buyers often pay only 0.25% on exchange and the rest of the deposit before the period ends.
Is there a cooling off period in WA?
No. Consumer Protection WA says there is no mandatory cooling-off period for real estate contracts made in WA, and the offer and acceptance binds you once acceptance is communicated. The only cooling-off you get is one both parties agree to write into the contract, so put finance and building inspection conditions in your offer.
Does a cooling off period apply at auction?
Not in any state or territory. In NSW and South Australia a contract signed later on auction day also has none (in the ACT, if you were a recorded bidder), Queensland excludes a sale to a registered bidder up to 5pm on the second clear business day after a pass-in, and Victoria excludes sales within three clear business days either side of the auction. Our auction playbook covers what to finish before bidding.
Should I waive the cooling off period to win a property?
Only when your homework is already done: contract reviewed, inspection back, finance formally approved. A 66W certificate in NSW, or a waiver notice in Queensland, turns a private sale into an auction-style commitment. If the property is off the plan, read our off-the-plan guide first, because NSW gives you 10 business days for good reason.
Before you sign anything
Know three dates before you pick up the pen: when your cooling-off period ends, when your finance and inspection conditions expire, and when the deposit balance is due. Book the inspector and the conveyancer before exchange, not after. If you are buying interstate under a two-day South Australian window or a WA contract with no cooling-off at all, that local legwork is where help earns its fee, and GoMatch matches your brief with buyer's agents who cover the area.
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Cooling-off rules turn on the exact wording of your contract and your state's law, so confirm the position with a solicitor or conveyancer before you sign.
Sources
- NSW Government, "Contracts and deposits when buying property in NSW". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- NSW Government, "Steps to selling a property". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- Berryman Partners, "What is a section 66W certificate and when do you need it in NSW?". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- Clayton Utz, "Put options won't kill cooling-off periods in NSW residential contracts for sale". June 2021.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria, "Buying property by private sale". Updated 9 September 2022, accessed 6 October 2026.
- Consumer Affairs Victoria, "Contracts and disclosure statements". Updated 15 October 2024.
- Queensland Legislation, "Property Occupations Act 2014", sections 159 to 168, current version accessed 6 October 2026.
- Queensland Government, "Cooling-off period for residential property contracts (for buyers only)". Updated 12 May 2022.
- Queensland Government, "Contract of sale for buying a home". Updated 23 July 2025.
- SA.GOV.AU, "Offers, auctions and buying off the plan". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- Legal Services Commission of South Australia, Law Handbook, "Cooling-off period" and "Deposit". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- ACT Legislation Register, "Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003", sections 12 to 17, republication effective 1 November 2025.
- NT.GOV.AU, "Contract of sale". Accessed 6 October 2026.
- Consumer Protection WA, "Buying property by private sale" (updated 25 November 2024) and "Sale by offer and acceptance" (updated 4 November 2021).
- Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Tasmania, "Advice when buying or selling property". Updated 20 July 2026.
- ASIC Moneysmart, "Buying a house". Updated 14 July 2026.
- Pointon Partners, "An expensive lesson: prospective purchasers lose $168,000 deposit after failing to comply with subject to finance clause". 12 August 2021.
- Victorian Property Settlements, "Who keeps the deposit if a property sale falls through in Victoria?". 4 June 2025.
- Rapid Building Inspections, "Building and pest inspection Sydney cost guide 2026". 12 August 2026.
