The cost of a European property, compared: Buying · Owning · Selling
Every country in this guide charges an annual tax on property you own. Comparing the rates
tells you almost nothing, because not one of them is charged on what the property is
worth. Each is charged on an official assessed value, and those values sit at wildly
different distances from the market price.
A 0.1% rate on a value that tracks the market can cost more than a 1% rate on a cadastral
figure set decades ago. That is the whole story of this table.
Annual property tax, by country
| Country | Tax | Typical rate | Charged on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | OZB | 0.05–0.17% | WOZ value — an assessed market value |
| Germany | Grundsteuer | ~0.26–1% | State-specific valuation models |
| Greece | ENFIA | ~0.28% base | Cadastral value, with a supplement above €250,000 |
| Portugal | IMI | 0.3–0.5% | Taxable value (VPT) |
| Spain | IBI | 0.4–1.1% | Valor catastral — typically well below market |
| Italy | IMU | 0.4–1.06% | Cadastral value — and generally not charged on a main residence |
| France | Taxe foncière | 0.5–1.5% | Cadastral rental value |
figure for one municipality tells you nothing about its neighbour.
Why the ranking above is misleading
Read that table as a league table and you would conclude the Netherlands is seven times
cheaper than France. It is not, and the reason is the last column.
The Dutch WOZ is an assessed market value. It is re-set annually and tracks
what the house is actually worth, so a low percentage is applied to a large number.
Spanish, Italian and Greek cadastral values are administrative figures that
commonly sit far below the sale price and are revalued rarely. A higher percentage applied to a
much smaller base can produce a smaller bill.
So the only honest comparison is the euros actually charged on a specific property — and
that is a number you can ask the seller or the agent for, because the current owner is already
paying it. Ask for last year’s bill. It is the single most useful document in
this whole subject and almost nobody requests it.
The exemptions that change the answer
| Country | Relief worth knowing about |
|---|---|
| Italy | IMU is generally not charged on your main residence (non-luxury categories). A second home pays it in full — the difference between resident and holiday use is the whole bill, not a discount |
| France | Taxe d’habitation was abolished on main homes but still applies to second homes, on top of taxe foncière. Budget for two taxes, not one |
| Greece | ENFIA adds a progressive supplement once cadastral value passes €250,000 |
| Portugal | IMI rates sit in a band; municipalities choose within it, and urban rates run at the top |
| Germany | Grundsteuer was reformed from January 2025 and states use different models — Bavaria, Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, Hessen and Niedersachsen each run their own |
What to take from this
A second home is a different tax product. In Italy it triggers IMU that a main
residence does not pay. In France it revives a tax that residents no longer pay. If you are buying
somewhere you will not live full time, the resident-facing guides are describing a different bill
from yours.
Local variation is not noise, it is the main effect. Dutch OZB in 2026 ranges
from roughly 0.05% in Amsterdam to about 0.11% in Vlaardingen — double, inside one small
country. Every tax here is set at municipal or state level.
Annual tax is rarely the largest recurring cost. Community fees, insurance,
standing utility charges and non-resident income tax on a property you let out routinely exceed
it. The ongoing-costs guide covers those.
Figures compiled 2026 from published guidance including
Global Property Guide,
the Greek Ministry of Economy and Finance and
the City of Amsterdam.
Rates are set locally and change annually, and the assessed value a tax is charged on cannot be
derived from the asking price. Use this to understand the differences, then get the actual figure
for the specific property from the seller’s last bill or a local adviser.