New Brunswick is one of Canada’s most genuinely affordable places to buy a home. Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John all offer prices that can make the math of homeownership work even on a modest income — and the provincial transfer tax, while real, stays low because the prices do. This calculator works through your full picture: monthly payment, CMHC insurance, and what to have ready on closing day. Let’s take it one step at a time.
Estimates only. Rates shown are examples as of June 2026. Always confirm the actual numbers with your lender or mortgage broker before you commit.
Quick facts for New Brunswick buyers
- New Brunswick charges a Real Property Transfer Tax of 1% on every purchase — flat rate, no tiers. It applies to the greater of the purchase price or the assessed value, which matters if the assessment happens to exceed what you paid.
- There is no first-time-buyer exemption or rebate on that tax — all buyers pay it equally.
- NB does not charge a provincial tax on your CMHC insurance premium. Ontario (8%), Quebec (9%), and Saskatchewan (6%) levy that surcharge — New Brunswick does not.
- Federal programs like the FHSA and RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan are fully available and worth maximizing here.
Minimum down payment rules in New Brunswick
New Brunswick follows the same federal rules as every province:
- 5% on the first $500,000 of the price
- 10% on the portion between $500,000 and $1,500,000
- 20% if the home costs $1,500,000 or more (these homes cannot be insured)
On a typical New Brunswick purchase in the $250,000–$400,000 range, the minimum is 5% — so on a $300,000 home, the minimum down payment is just $15,000. Putting more down reduces your premium and your monthly payment.
The maximum insured mortgage is $1.5 million, raised from $1 million in December 2024.
How CMHC insurance works in New Brunswick
If your down payment — the cash you put toward the home up front — is less than 20% of the price, Canadian law requires you to carry mortgage default insurance. This most often comes from the CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation), the federal agency that backs these loans.
Worth being upfront about: this insurance protects your lender, not you. If you stopped making payments, it reimburses the bank. You pay the cost, but the protection runs the other way. It exists because it lets banks lend to buyers with smaller down payments — without it, you’d need the full 20% saved before you could get a mortgage at all.
The cost is the premium — a percentage of your loan that depends on how much you put down. According to CMHC, the standard rates are:
- 5% down → premium of 4.00% of the loan
- 10% down → premium of 3.10% of the loan
- 15% down → premium of 2.80% of the loan
The premium is financed — added onto your mortgage, not paid in cash. You repay it gradually as part of your monthly payments.
And here’s the good news for NB buyers: New Brunswick does not add a provincial tax on top of the premium. In Ontario or Quebec, you’d owe that surcharge in cash at closing on top of everything else. In New Brunswick, that line doesn’t exist.
Local regulations and closing costs in New Brunswick
The main closing-day cost to plan for in New Brunswick is the Real Property Transfer Tax (RPTT). The rate is a flat 1% of the greater of the purchase price or the assessed property value, payable through your lawyer on closing day — it can’t be added to your mortgage.
That “greater of” detail matters in practice. If your municipality’s assessed value for a property is $310,000 but you negotiated the price to $295,000, the tax is still calculated on $310,000 — so it’s worth asking your lawyer to check the assessment before you finalize your budget.
According to the Government of New Brunswick, there is no first-time-buyer exemption or rebate on this tax. Every buyer pays 1% at closing, regardless of whether it’s their first home or their fifth.
To see exactly what you’d owe on any NB purchase price, use our New Brunswick property transfer tax calculator.
What does a complete NB closing budget look like? Beyond your down payment and the RPTT, expect:
- Lawyer fees: typically around $1,200–$1,800 in New Brunswick
- Title insurance: roughly $250–$350 for a typical residential purchase
- Home inspection: typically $400–$600
These are approximations. Your lawyer will give you a precise closing-cost statement before you sign.
Your options as a New Brunswick buyer
Federal programs are your main tools here. Here are the ones active in 2026.
First Home Savings Account (FHSA) The FHSA is a registered account built specifically for first-time buyers. You can contribute up to $8,000 per year and up to $40,000 lifetime. Contributions are tax-deductible like an RRSP, and qualifying withdrawals toward a home purchase are completely tax-free like a TFSA. You can also stack the FHSA with the Home Buyers’ Plan below. According to Canada.ca, the FHSA opened for contributions in April 2023.
RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) With the HBP, you can withdraw up to $60,000 per person from your RRSP — $120,000 for a couple buying together — tax-free, to put toward a down payment. You repay the amount over 15 years. It’s not free money, but it is an interest-free loan from yourself, which is a genuinely good deal.
First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate (introduced March 2025) For agreements signed on or after March 20, 2025, eligible first-time buyers of a newly built home can recover the GST (or the federal part of the HST) paid to the builder — up to $50,000. The full rebate applies on homes up to $1 million; a partial rebate applies from $1 million to $1.5 million. The definition of “first-time buyer” uses a 5-year lookback, not a “never owned” rule. Confirm your eligibility at canada.ca — the program is recent and details may have been updated.
What New Brunswick does not currently offer is a provincial first-time-buyer grant, loan, or rebate on the transfer tax. The federal programs above are where the real assistance lives.
How to use this calculator
It takes about thirty seconds:
- Enter the home price you’re considering.
- Enter your down payment in dollars. The tool checks it against the federal minimum and flags it if it falls short.
- Enter the interest rate your lender quoted (or a rate you want to test).
- Choose your amortization — the number of years to repay, usually 25.
You’ll see your estimated monthly payment, your CMHC premium, and your total mortgage with the premium included. There is no provincial premium-tax line for New Brunswick, because NB doesn’t charge one.
One detail worth knowing: this calculator uses the correct Canadian method. Canadian fixed-rate mortgages compound semi-annually (twice a year), not monthly as in the United States. Many calculators get this wrong. Ours follows the Canadian convention.
Example — a $300,000 NB home with 10% down
Let’s walk through a realistic New Brunswick scenario so you can see every number.
You’re buying a $300,000 home in Moncton and putting 10% down ($30,000) — comfortably above the $15,000 minimum for this price. Rate: 4.79%, amortization: 25 years.
The mortgage side:
- Down payment: $30,000
- Loan before insurance: $300,000 − $30,000 = $270,000
- CMHC premium at 10% down (3.10%): $270,000 × 3.10% = $8,370 (financed into the mortgage)
- No NB provincial tax on the premium
- Total mortgage: $270,000 + $8,370 = $278,370
- Estimated monthly payment at 4.79% over 25 years: $1,586
The closing-cost side:
- Real Property Transfer Tax on $300,000: 1% × $300,000 = $3,000 (verified against our NB calculator)
- Lawyer fees: approximately $1,500
- Title insurance: approximately $300
- Home inspection: approximately $500
- Approximate total closing costs beyond the down payment: about $5,300
That $5,300 in closing costs is genuinely low by Canadian standards. In Toronto or Vancouver, a land transfer tax alone on a comparable home would run well into the tens of thousands. New Brunswick’s flat 1% and affordable price points make the total cost of entry one of the most realistic in the country.
Frequently asked questions
How much is New Brunswick’s property transfer tax?
The Real Property Transfer Tax is a flat 1% of the greater of the purchase price or the assessed value. On a $300,000 purchase, that’s $3,000. There are no tiers or brackets — the rate is 1% regardless of price.
Is there a first-time-buyer break on NB’s property transfer tax?
No. New Brunswick does not currently offer a rebate or exemption on the Real Property Transfer Tax for first-time buyers. Every buyer pays the full 1% at closing. The federal programs (FHSA, HBP) are where first-time-buyer support lives in this province.
Does New Brunswick charge a tax on CMHC insurance?
No. New Brunswick does not apply a provincial surcharge to the CMHC insurance premium. Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan do — NB buyers pay only the premium itself, which is financed into the mortgage.
Can I use my RRSP or FHSA for a down payment in New Brunswick?
Yes to both. The Home Buyers’ Plan lets you withdraw up to $60,000 from your RRSP tax-free ($120,000 for a couple). The FHSA lets you build up to $40,000 lifetime in tax-free, tax-deductible savings for a home purchase. You can use both programs together to maximize your down payment.
Can I avoid CMHC insurance in New Brunswick?
Yes — put down 20% or more of the purchase price. At 20% down, mortgage default insurance isn’t required and there’s no premium to pay. In an affordable market like New Brunswick, where prices are lower than most Canadian cities, saving to 20% may be more achievable than you think.
Sources
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) — mortgage loan insurance, premium rates, and minimum down payment rules.
- Government of New Brunswick — Real Property Transfer Tax Act (R-2.1) — the 1% rate, the “greater of” assessed-value rule, and exemptions.
- Service New Brunswick — property assessment and transfer tax administration.
- Canada.ca — First Home Savings Account (FHSA) — contribution limits, tax treatment, and withdrawal rules.
- Canada.ca — Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) — withdrawal limits, eligibility, and repayment rules.
- Canada.ca — First-Time Home Buyers’ GST/HST Rebate — eligibility criteria, home value thresholds, and how to apply.
This page is for general information, not financial advice. Figures are estimates as of June 2026 and change over time — confirm the current numbers with your lender, mortgage broker, or lawyer before you commit.