Gary now prices $2 million-plus homes online. The same house cost at least 76% more to insure in Sydney

Gary’s online form now returns prices from mainstream insurers for homes that cost $2 million to $7 million to rebuild, side by side, in one form. On 6 November 2026 we priced the same house in Melbourne and Sydney: the cheapest Sydney price was at least 76% higher than the cheapest in Melbourne.

What changed?

Two mainstream insurers on Gary’s panel now price homes in the $2 million to $5 million range online, and one goes on to $7 million: when we tested its limit in September it priced a $7 million building and declined $7.25 million. The second insurer covers up to $5 million of building and contents together, with contents up to $500,000.

From $3 million, a specialist insurer for high-value homes is asked as well. It sends every home to its underwriters rather than pricing it automatically, and a broker brings back their terms. So a large home can now get instant prices and a specialist’s review from the same form.

What does a $2 million-plus home cost to insure?

Between $5,662 and $9,456 a year in Melbourne, for building sums of $2 million to $2.9 million. We used one house throughout: a two-storey, double-brick home built in 2010, with a pool, top-of-the-range fittings, five bedrooms and four bathrooms, owner-occupied, no claims, $250,000 of contents and a $1,000 excess.

Annual prices including GST, stamp duty and the insurer’s fee, before our broker fee. Insurer B’s price is its middle option, listed events; its accidental damage option was $7,745.90 to $9,634.22. Insurers unnamed because the panel changes.

The price grew more slowly than the house. Taking the building sum up by 45% raised Insurer A’s price by 31% and Insurer B’s by 24%, so each extra dollar of rebuild cost was cheaper to insure than the first two million.

Why did the same house cost more in Sydney?

Partly tax, partly the insurers’ own price for the address. We priced the same house at $2.5 million in two Sydney suburbs:

New South Wales still collects most of the money for its fire and emergency services through a levy on insurance premiums. On these quotes it was $1,148.62 to $1,289.75, and GST and then stamp duty are charged on top of it, so it costs more than its face value. Victoria moved that charge onto council rates in 2013, which is why the Melbourne prices carry none.

The levy doesn’t explain all of it. Before any tax, Insurer A’s own premium for the Mosman address was 59% higher than for Surrey Hills. Each insurer prices an address on its own view of the risk, and one of the two declined the Mosman house outright on what the property records showed.

What should owners of large homes check?

The figure that drives every price above is the rebuild cost, not what the house would sell for. Our guide to luxury and high-value home insurance covers how that figure is worked out, where each policy runs out, and the parts a standard policy caps, such as jewellery, art and outbuildings. The prices for ordinary homes are on our home insurance page.