NYC Closing Costs in 2026

Closing costs are the part of a New York City transaction that surprises people. Buyers budget carefully for a down payment, get through a board package or a mortgage commitment, and then discover that closing requires another $40,000, $70,000, or in some cases well over $100,000 — money that cannot be financed and has to be sitting in an account.

The confusion is understandable. What you pay depends on what you are buying. A co-op, a condo, a Brooklyn brownstone, and a sponsor unit in a new development each carry a different set of costs, and the difference between the cheapest and most expensive version of the same $2 million purchase can exceed $40,000.

This guide breaks down every line item on both sides of the table — buyer and seller, across all four property types — with real numbers and three fully worked examples. If you are trying to answer the question "what do I actually need at closing," this is the page for you.

New York City is among the most expensive places in the country to close on a home, and the reason is structural: the transaction carries three separate layers of taxation. There are city taxes, state taxes, and — uniquely — a mortgage recording tax that most of the country does not have at all.

Layered on top of that are the private costs: attorneys on both sides, title insurance on real property, lender fees, and a set of building charges that vary from address to address. None of these are avoidable, but nearly all of them are predictable once you know what type of property you are buying.

The single most important variable is property type. Read the section that matches what you are buying, then read the mansion tax and mortgage recording tax sections — those two apply broadly and account for most of the total.

A condominium is real property. You receive a deed, the transaction is recorded with the city, and that recording triggers both title insurance and — if you are financing — the mortgage recording tax. Those two items are the reason condo closing costs run materially higher than co-op closing costs at the same price.

When you buy a co-op you are not buying real estate. You are buying shares in a corporation, along with a proprietary lease granting you the right to occupy a specific apartment. That legal distinction has a direct financial consequence at closing: no deed is recorded, so no mortgage recording tax is owed and no title insurance policy is issued.

The result is that co-ops are consistently the least expensive way to close in New York City. On a $1.5 million purchase with a $1.1 million loan, avoiding those two items alone saves roughly $28,000.

A townhouse purchase carries the same tax structure as a condo — it is real property, so title insurance and mortgage recording tax both apply. What changes is the diligence. You are buying an entire building, including its roof, facade, mechanical systems, certificate of occupancy, and any open violations or permits.

That diligence costs money before you ever reach the closing table, and it is money well spent. A structural issue discovered during inspection is a negotiating point. The same issue discovered after closing is entirely yours.

This is where buyers get caught. In a resale, the seller pays the New York City and New York State transfer taxes. In a sponsor sale — a new development, or a unit being sold by the original owner of the offering plan — the offering plan almost always shifts those taxes to the buyer.

On a $2 million purchase that is roughly $36,500 in additional cost, for the same apartment at the same price. Add the sponsor's attorney fee and a working capital contribution and a new development purchase routinely closes $40,000 higher than an equivalent resale.

The mansion tax is a one-time transfer tax paid by the buyer on any residential purchase of $1,000,000 or more. Despite the name, at current New York City prices it applies to a very large share of ordinary transactions — a one-bedroom in much of Manhattan clears the threshold.

The critical thing to understand is that it is not a marginal rate. The tier you land in applies to the entire purchase price, not just the portion above the threshold. Crossing a boundary by a single dollar increases the tax on every dollar.

New York City charges a tax for the privilege of recording a mortgage. It is calculated on the loan amount rather than the purchase price: 1.8% on loans under $500,000, and 1.925% on loans of $500,000 and above. Lenders customarily pay 0.25% of that, leaving the balance to the borrower.

The exemption is significant and frequently decisive: co-ops do not owe it. Because no mortgage is recorded against real property — the loan is secured by shares and a proprietary lease — the tax does not apply. On a $1 million loan, that is roughly $16,750 that a co-op buyer simply does not pay.

If you are financing a condo or townhouse, ask your attorney whether a CEMA is possible. A Consolidation, Extension and Modification Agreement lets you assume and modify the seller's existing mortgage instead of recording a new one, and the tax is then owed only on any new money. It requires both lenders to cooperate and adds time to the process, but on a large loan the savings are substantial.

Seller costs are more uniform across property types than buyer costs, because the largest items — commission and transfer taxes — apply regardless of whether you are selling a co-op, a condo, or a townhouse. The main variable is the flip tax, which exists in many co-ops and a minority of condos.

Two separate transfer taxes apply to a New York City sale, and they are commonly discussed as though they were one.

A flip tax is not a government tax at all. It is a fee the building itself charges on a transfer, used to fund reserves and capital projects without raising maintenance for existing residents. It is most common in co-ops, though a minority of condos have one.

The structure varies widely, and the difference matters. A building may charge a flat percentage of the sale price, typically 1–3%. It may charge a fixed dollar amount per share. It may charge a percentage of the seller's profit. Or it may charge a flat fee regardless of price.

In most buildings the seller pays, but not all — some proprietary leases assign it to the buyer. There is no way to know without reading the governing documents, which is why both sides should have their attorney confirm it early rather than discovering it in the closing statement.

Closing costs in New York City are high, but they are not unpredictable. Every figure on this page can be estimated before you sign a contract, and the ones that vary most — sponsor transfer taxes, flip taxes, lender fees — are precisely the ones worth asking about early.

The buyers and sellers who are surprised at the closing table are almost always the ones who were never given a line-item estimate at the beginning. That is a representation problem, not a market problem.

Before you make an offer or set an asking price, Andreea Miller and Steven Markowicz will walk you through exactly what your transaction will cost and what you will net. If you are weighing a purchase or a sale in Manhattan or Brooklyn, we would be glad to put those numbers in front of you.