You’ve found the property and agreed on a price. Next comes settlement, which is really a series of steps between signing the contract and picking up the keys. Knowing roughly how long each step takes makes the whole process far less stressful.
How long does settlement take in South Australia?
The settlement period is whatever your contract says it is. The SA Government puts the usual range at 4 to 12 weeks after contracts are signed. In our experience, 30 to 60 days is now the standard settlement period in South Australia. Thirty days used to be the favourite, but as the market shifts in favour of purchasers, more of them are negotiating longer settlement dates.
Settlement day itself moves quickly. Since August 2020, transfers in South Australia must be lodged electronically, so settlement happens online instead of in a room full of bank cheques. Land Services SA (formerly the Lands Titles Office) then registers the transfer. That takes anywhere from 3 to 10 business days and is generally done within a week.
Who decides the settlement date?
No single party decides it. The settlement date is negotiated between the purchaser and the vendor and written into the contract. Some parties carry more weight than others. If the vendor is buying another property, they may be firm about the date they need. If you engage a conveyancer before you negotiate the contract, they can advise you on a realistic settlement date, such as one that leaves your lender enough time to approve your loan.
What happens straight after I sign?
Unless you bought at auction, you have a cooling-off period of 2 clear business days. It runs from the later of signing the contract and being served the Form 1, the vendor’s statement. Weekends and South Australian public holidays don’t count, even if you live interstate, so go by the SA public holiday dates and not your own state’s. After that, the clock starts on any special conditions in the contract, such as finance approval or a building inspection.
This is also when we start your identity checks. Since July 2026, conveyancers have extra obligations under the AML/CTF laws. We send our onboarding form at the very start of your matter, followed by a link to complete your identity check, so nothing holds up your settlement date later on. Our post on AML and CTF for property in South Australia explains what has changed.
How long does finance approval take?
Your lender usually needs the most time of anyone. If you already have pre-approval, formal approval often takes 2 to 3 weeks. Once it comes through, allow at least another 2 weeks for the loan documents to be prepared, signed by you, returned and processed. On a 30 day settlement period that leaves very little room, which is why it pays to have your conveyancer involved before you sign anything.
What can I do to keep settlement on track?
Send the signed contract to your lender or broker straight away, because they need it to approve your loan. When the lender asks for more information, get it back to them quickly. Slow replies to lender requests are one of the easiest ways to push a settlement date back.
Your conveyancer will watch every date in the contract, from finance approval to building and pest inspections and any works the vendor has agreed to finish. If a condition can’t be met in time, they will ask for an extension before the deadline passes. Our post on conditional contracts covers this in more detail.
Start with your conveyancer
The single best thing you can do for a smooth settlement is to engage a conveyancer early, ideally when you first start looking at properties. By the time your offer is accepted, they can already have advised you on the contract terms and a realistic settlement date, and started your identity checks.
The SA Government has good factual information on property settlement. If you’d rather talk it through with a person, contact us or call 08 8261 5092.