New York Closing Costs: Mansion Tax, Mortgage Recording Tax and Title Insurance
A New York purchase carries taxes that buyers in Illinois, Michigan or Missouri never see: a mortgage recording tax on the loan, a "mansion tax" on the price above a threshold, and title insurance priced from a filed rate manual. They are large, they depend on the county, and two of them have cliffs. Here is what each one is and who pays it.
General information from the Tax Department's published rules and the filed title-insurance rates, not legal or tax advice. Confirm every figure for a specific closing with your attorney and the title company; attorney fees are not included anywhere below.
The buyer's costs
| Charge | Rule |
|---|---|
| Mansion tax | 1% of the whole price once the price reaches $1,000,000, paid by the buyer. It is a cliff: $999,999 owes nothing, $1,000,000 owes $10,000. It applies to one- to three-family homes, condominium units and co-op apartments. |
| NYC supplemental tax | Buyers in the five boroughs pay more on prices of $2,000,000 and up: a combined mansion-plus-supplemental rate of about 1.25% at $2 million, rising in steps to 3.9% at $25 million and over. |
| Mortgage recording tax | Levied on the loan, per $100, and different in almost every county (table below). |
| Title insurance | Owner's and lender's policies at rates filed with the state, in two zones. Zone 2 (higher) includes the search; Zone 1 charges the search separately. |
| East End tax | 2.0% to 2.5% of the price above a per-town exemption in five eastern Long Island towns. |
The State transfer tax (0.4% of the price) is customarily the seller's cost, as is New York City's transfer tax, so neither belongs in your cash to close.
The mortgage recording tax, county by county
The tax is the sum of a basic tax, a "special additional" tax, an "additional" tax and, in some places, a local tax. By statute the 25-cent special additional share is the lender's, so the borrower's share is the total minus 25 cents per $100. On a one- or two-family home the first $10,000 of the loan is also deducted from the additional tax; condominium units do not get that deduction. Totals per $100 of loan (Form MT-15, January 2025):
| Where | Total per $100 |
|---|---|
| New York City | $2.05 under $500,000; $2.175 at $500,000 or more (one- to three-family homes and condos) |
| Yonkers | $1.80 |
| Westchester (outside Yonkers), Rockland | $1.30 |
| Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady and others | $1.25 |
| Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Dutchess, Putnam | $1.05 |
| Erie, Monroe, Onondaga, Saratoga, Tompkins and others | $1.00 |
| Ulster, Chemung, Jefferson, Montgomery, St. Lawrence, Tioga | $0.75 |
A buyer in Erie County borrowing $200,000 pays about $1.00 − $0.25 = $0.75 per $100, or $1,500, less the small deduction. A buyer in New York City borrowing $800,000 for a condominium pays $2.175 − $0.25 = $1.925 per $100: $15,400.
Three worked purchases
All with an 80% loan, using the filed 2024 title rates and the rules above. They exclude attorney fees, recording fees, the Zone 1 search, and lender charges.
| Purchase | Title (owner's plus lender's, bought together) | Borrower's mortgage tax | Mansion tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk, $600,000 | $3,350 | $3,810 | none |
| Erie or Monroe, $250,000 | $1,518 plus a search fee | $1,475 | none |
| New York City condo, $1,000,000 | $5,165 | $15,400 | $10,000 |
The NYC condo's mortgage tax and mansion tax alone come to $25,400, about 2.5% of the price. The first two buyers face no mansion tax at all. Because of the cliff, closing at $999,000 instead of $1,000,000 saves $10,000 of tax for $1,000 off the price, which is why prices cluster just under the threshold.
What the numbers leave out
Attorney fees on both sides, recording and filing fees (which vary by county), lender and bank charges, and the title search in Zone 1 counties are all separate. Whether the seller or the buyer pays the owner's title premium is custom, not law, and it can be negotiated.
Where to look
County and town tax rates are on the New York State city pages and the county pages. The New York closing-cost calculator applies the rules above to a price and loan amount.
Sources: Tax Law sec. 253 and Form MT-15 (January 2025) for the mortgage recording tax; the Tax Department's transfer-tax pages for the 1% mansion tax and the NYC supplemental range (the combined rate schedule above is a commonly cited summary consistent with that range, and its status can change); TIRSA Rate Manual, Seventh Revision (effective October 1, 2024) for title insurance.
Keep exploring
Want the full picture for a specific address — valuation, taxes, condition, and an honest verdict?
Analyze a property →