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How Much Does Closing Really Cost in Fredericton?
Update, August 2026 — Rob Hamel. I wrote this series in 2019 from the point of view of a first-time buyer I was working with, using their real numbers, and I am leaving the account itself exactly as written — an itemised breakdown of what somebody actually paid is worth more than a generic list. To be clear about the device: the voice below is theirs, the figures are from their purchase, and I am the REALTOR® who was on the other side of it. But the numbers are now six years old, and prices here have moved a long way.
The $10,000 down payment below reflects a home around $200,000. The MLS® Home Price Index benchmark for the Fredericton region in July 2026 is $361,100 — the same benchmark was $243,100 five years ago, a rise of 48.5%.
On today’s benchmark, with the minimum 5% down, you would need roughly $27,000 to $36,000 in cash to close, not $10,000. Two things on this list have also changed at the policy level: the federal First-Time Home Buyer Incentive was discontinued in March 2024, and a new First-Time Home Buyers’ GST rebate on new builds came into force in March 2026.
For the current figures, see first-time home buyers in Fredericton, which itemises the whole thing with 2026 numbers, or buying a home in Fredericton for the full process.
This part was probably the biggest shocker to me, the actual cost of buying a home. Spoiler alert, it’s not just the 5% you need for a down-payment! Here how much my house actually ended up costing.
Down payment – $10,000
The down-payment is of course the largest single fee associated with the purchase. This included a $1000 deposit at the time my offer was accepted, with the remaining $9000 due at closing.
Inspection – $0
No, I didn’t get a crazy deal on an inspector, I chose to do my own inspection with a friend whose construction background I trust. The home I bought was five years old, so I made the decision to save myself $500-$700 and not hire an inspector. Full disclosure: I would NOT recommend doing this yourself. A professional can find many potential upcoming issues.
Property Tax – $1040
Yearly property taxes are paid in roughly the middle of the calendar year, and they cover the whole year, so when you buy a home, you need to reimburse the portion of the year that you will own the home.
Here’s the kicker – properties that are not inhabited by their owner in New Brunswick are charged a nearly double tax rate. (NB is the only province that does this) When you buy a home that is being rented (like I did), then you pay back that current rate, and eventually are reimbursed. As of the time of writing, I’m still waiting on a nearly $500 refund.
HST – $0
Only brand new homes are subject to HST, which mine was not. Kind of makes you wonder why you pay HST on a used vehicle…
Land Transfer Tax – $2050
Usually right around 1% of the price of the home. This is the fee to the province to change the property into your name. I don’t claim to understand any more of this, but to me I would argue that this should be a flat fee, but I’m in marketing, not politics.
Default Insurance (CMHC fee) – $0
This fee (4.5% of the mortgage amount in my case) is added on to the mortgage, so no extra fee is paid at closing.
Lawyer – $1350
This fee covers the lawyer who managed the transaction, the title insurance, and several other small things
Home Association – $400 + $47
I purchased a townhouse which has monthly maintenance (snow, lawn, and water) covered by my townhouse’s association. I had to pay a one time $400 contingency fee as well as the rest of the month’s maintenance fee.
NB Power – $138 in transfer fees
Ending my old addresses power and starting the new home’s power cost $120+ tax in fees, in addition to all the regular charge.
New Appliances – $1450 (after I sold my old set)
My home came with a pretty gross washer, so I ordered a new set right away and sold the old pair. I’m not going to add this in the closing cost total since I didn’t technically need to buy this.
Bell – $70
This was the fee to move my internet. I was actually charged about $400, but that’s another rant…
Moving – $120
I tried to keep moving costs as low as possible, so I grabbed a friend, rented a uhaul, had someone deliver pizza and beer (once driving was finished), and did it all myself. As I carried a 60 kg couch up to the 3rd floor I regretted this, but I saved some money, and that’s what counts, right?
So, in total, my closing costs ended up approximately $15,200, or 8.1% of the purchase price, not just the 5% of the down payment. There’s a lot of little things that sneak up on you, so my best recommendation is to avoid stress, don’t try to purchase a home without at least 10% of the purchase price in savings.
Andy Tree is a professional Wedding Photographer, marketing expert, coffee lover, millennial, board game enthusiast, and overall nerd. Over the next weeks he’ll fill you in on every step of his search and first home purchase.
Send us a message on Facebook if you have any specific questions or if you’re ready to start your own search!
Rent or Buy? How One Fredericton Buyer Decided
About this series. I wrote “The blog of a first time home buyer” in 2019 from the point of view of a first-time buyer I was working with, using their real experience and their real numbers. The voice is theirs; I am the REALTOR® who was on the other side of it.
Update, August 2026. The rent-or-buy arithmetic below is from 2019 and the inputs have moved a long way since. The Fredericton benchmark price was $243,100 five years ago; in July 2026 it is $361,100, up 48.5%. Minimum down payment on that is $18,055, but the realistic cash to close is closer to $27,000 to $36,000 once land transfer tax and closing costs are counted. First-time home buyers in Fredericton works the whole thing through with current figures.
Deciding to purchase my first home wasn’t as straightforward a decision as it can be for many people. I currently rent a very nicely built home that doesn’t leave me wanting for much. When something breaks, I don’t have to deal with it. My costs are essentially fixed, mostly everything works, I have enough space for my girlfriend, my cat, and I. Honestly, it’s pretty good living. On the other hand, I’ve rented my current place for 4 years, which means I’ve “thrown away” over fifty thousand dollars. 50 large! Of course, if I had bought a house all that money wouldn’t have built equity, but nearly half of it would have.
I would definitely like to start putting some of that money back into my own pockets, but I’m not in a huge rush since I’m pretty happy with my current living conditions. At the time we were in quite a sellers market, meaning houses were moving fast! If we found something we liked, we’d need to be ready to make an offer right away, which is certainly a little intimidating to a first time buyer.
Next comes figuring out what we’re even looking for. We made a list of some must haves, but were mostly flexible. One major decision is while I’m decently handy, I’m also extremely busy, so we weren’t willing to buy something that needed a lot of work. A few things on our list was a modern kitchen with decent space (since we’re used to a rather large kitchen at the moment), at least a second half-bathroom, a room for a home office (I currently share the space with my entertainment set up, which isn’t perfect for productivity), and lots of natural light.
Figuring out you must-haves right away can certainly help narrow down your search, but be sure to adjust this list as you go to open houses, view listings, etc. You’re going to learn a lot from the first houses you check out, so don’t worry if you don’t have much of a list yet.
Before we started looking too closely, it was important to figure out how much we could afford. Using some handy affordability calculators helped us plan for monthly expenses, but we also needed to consider how much we needed upfront. The minimum down payment in Canada is 5%, but there’s plenty of extra costs, such as property tax, lawyer fees, inspection, land transfer tax, etc. A more realistic expectation is the minimum we’d need is 10%, 5% for down payment, 5% for closing costs. I had to also take into consideration that my main income comes from my small business, which means a varying income year to year, while my girlfriend’s has the comfort of being salaried.
Let me get real with you, another concern I had was the perception of buying a home with my girlfriend, since we’ve only been together for a year and a half and we’re not married. I personally had no doubts about buying a home together, but I did worry a little about the perspective of others. We discussed having the home only in one of our names if we could qualify for a mortgage alone, but ended up deciding to find the house before we stressed too much about it.
With no particular rush, we decided to start casually looking at houses. Realtor.ca is my go-to to see what’s new. Sorting by new and putting a price limit at the top of my budget makes swiping through houses as easy as swiping through tinder!
Andy Tree is a professional Wedding Photographer, marketing expert, coffee lover, millennial, board game enthusiast, and overall nerd. Over the next weeks he’ll fill you in on every step of his search and first home purchase.
Send us a message on Facebook if you have any specific questions or if you’re ready to start your own search!
