Skip to main content

Buying a Home in Newfoundland and Labrador: First-Time Buyer Costs and Steps

Updated

Newfoundland and Labrador has no land transfer tax: buyers pay registration fees for the deed and the mortgage, and there is no first-time buyer exemption from them. The province’s own help for a first purchase comes instead from Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation (NLHC), which lends part of the down payment and pays part of the legal bill for buyers under its income and price limits. Federal programs such as the FHSA and the Home Buyers’ Plan, and the federal minimum down payment and stress test rules, are in the first-time home buyer guide.

NLHC’s First-time Homebuyers Program

The program combines a down payment loan with a grant toward legal fees. Its conditions:

  • The loan is up to 5% of the purchase price of a new or existing home, scaled to household income and the price, and must be repaid.
  • Every person on the mortgage is a first-time home buyer.
  • You have been pre-approved for a mortgage by a recognized financial institution, with a lender that accepts the loan as a down payment source.
  • Household income is under $85,000 for the full loan; incomes up to $95,000 get a smaller loan on a sliding scale.
  • The home costs no more than $350,000 in the St. John's census metropolitan area and Labrador, $300,000 in Clarenville, Gander, Grand Falls-Windsor, Corner Brook, Stephenville and communities within 30 km of them, or $250,000 elsewhere.
  • With approval, a home up to 10% above the maximum in the St. John's area, Labrador and the regional centres can qualify, but the help stays capped at 5% of the region's maximum price.
  • The legal-cost grant is 50% of legal closing costs up to $1,500, and is paid only with the loan.
  • Repayment of the loan can wait 5 years after the purchase, at a rate no higher than prime minus one percent.
  • You apply before the purchase closes: homes already bought don't qualify, and an application with a signed purchase agreement needs 15 business days before closing.
  • Applications are approved first come, first served until the program's funding runs out, and it can close without notice.

In the St. John’s area the loan tops out at $17,500, which is exactly the minimum down payment of $17,500 on a home at the $350,000 limit, so a household under the income limit can cover the whole federal minimum with the program. With the variance policy, the highest price NLHC can approve there is $385,000. Qualifying for an insured mortgage on a $350,000 home takes about $82,000 of household income (method), below the $85,000 ceiling for the full loan. Details and the application form are on NLHC’s program page.

Registry of Deeds fees at St. John’s prices

The Registry of Deeds fee schedule charges $100.00 to register a deed on a property worth up to $500, plus $0.40 for each further $100 or part of $100; the mortgage is charged the same way on the amount it secures, to a maximum of $5,000. With less than 20% down, the amount secured includes the default insurance premium when it is added to the loan, as the table assumes.

Typical home (MLS® HPI benchmark)PriceRegistering the deedRegistering the insured mortgageMinimum down paymentHousehold income neededUnder the program’s price limit
St. John’s, all home types$421,800$1,785.20$1,765.20$21,090$97,900No
St. John’s single-family home$442,300$1,867.20$1,846.00$22,115$102,400No
St. John’s townhouse or row unit$331,400$1,423.60$1,408.00$16,570$77,900Yes
St. John’s apartment$261,400$1,143.60$1,131.20$13,070$62,400Yes

Benchmarks: Newfoundland and Labrador Association of REALTORS, September 2026. Mortgage fee on the insured loan at the minimum down payment; income needed over 25 years. Price limit: NLHC’s $350,000 for the St. John’s census metropolitan area.

A typical St. John’s home overall is priced $36,800 above the most the program can approve with its variance, so in the city the program mainly reaches townhouses, apartments and lower-priced houses. The Newfoundland and Labrador land transfer tax calculator works out the registry fees for any price.

No tax on the mortgage insurance premium

Newfoundland and Labrador charges 15% retail sales tax on many insurance premiums, but residential mortgage default insurance is on the list of exempt policies, so the premium on an insured mortgage carries no provincial tax at closing (unlike in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan). See PST on mortgage insurance.

Property tax in St. John’s

St. John’s sets a residential mill rate of 9.1 for 2026 (dollars per $1,000 of assessed value, for property with water and sewer services), and bills the water tax separately. A home assessed at the city’s composite benchmark would pay about $3,838 a year before the water tax.

Checks that matter in Newfoundland and Labrador

Much of the housing stock is older, and many homes heat with oil or electricity. Ask for a year of heating bills, check the age of an oil tank (insurers often ask), and test well water outside St. John’s. The home inspection guide covers what a standard inspection includes.

Where to look in Newfoundland and Labrador

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between September 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026. How we check facts.