The cost of a European property, compared: Buying · Owning · Selling
Every country in this guide charges you to buy a home, and almost every published comparison
flattens that into a single percentage. The percentage is the least useful part. What decides
your bill is what the tax is charged on and whether the property is new — and
those two things move the number far more than the headline rate.
Below are the figures as reported in 2026, then the part nobody tabulates: the structural
differences underneath them.
Total cost of buying, by country
These are round-trip purchase costs — transfer tax or VAT, notary, land registry, and agent
commission where the buyer pays it — as a share of the purchase price.
| Country | Typical total | What drives the spread |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 5.5–7.5% | Transfer tax is 2% for owner-occupiers — the lowest headline rate here |
| Greece | 6–10% | Transfer tax 3% plus municipal surcharge (about 3.09% effective) |
| France | 7–8% resale · 2–4% new-build | Droits de mutation of roughly 5.8% apply only to property over five years old |
| Portugal | 7–9% | Notary and registry are a flat €1,000–1,500, not a percentage |
| Germany | 7–15% | Transfer tax is set by each state: 3.5–6.5% |
| Spain | 9–12% resale · 12–15% new-build | Transfer tax is set by each autonomous community; new-build pays VAT plus stamp duty instead |
| Italy | 10–16% | Registration tax 2% (main home) to 9% (second home); new-build pays VAT at 4%, 10% or 22% |
region and property type — confirm the current figure for your specific purchase before you
budget on it.
The part that actually catches people: what the tax is charged on
A 9% rate on one base and a 9% rate on another are not the same bill. This is the difference
that turns a confident budget into a surprise at the notary.
| Country | Main purchase tax is charged on | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | Cadastral value, not the price paid | The cadastral value is often well below the sale price, so the effective rate on what you actually pay is lower than 9% looks |
| Greece | Taxable value, which may differ from the price | Same principle: the assessed figure governs, not your contract |
| Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands | The purchase price | The headline rate is the rate you pay |
Where the number moves, country by country
| Country | The biggest single variable |
|---|---|
| Germany | Which Land you buy in. Transfer tax runs 3.5% to 6.5% — nearly double, for the same house |
| Spain | Which autonomous community, and resale versus new-build. New-build switches you from transfer tax to VAT plus stamp duty |
| France | Whether the property is over five years old. Under five, you are in the 2–4% band instead of 7–8% |
| Italy | Whether it is your main home. Prima casa relief drops registration tax from 9% to 2% |
| Netherlands | Whether you will live in it. The 2% rate is for owner-occupiers; buy-to-let and second homes are taxed at a substantially higher rate — check the current figure, as it has moved repeatedly |
| Portugal | IMT is banded and progressive, so the effective rate climbs with price rather than stepping |
| Greece | Whether VAT applies instead of transfer tax on certain new builds |
Three things worth taking from this
New-build flips the answer in three countries. In France it makes buying
dramatically cheaper; in Spain and Italy it makes it dearer. If you are comparing countries on a
single percentage, you are comparing different transactions.
Federal countries are not one market. Germany and Spain both devolve the main
purchase tax. A German buyer choosing between two states can pay 3.5% or 6.5% on an identical
purchase, and no national average tells them that.
The lowest-cost country on paper is not always cheapest in practice. The Dutch
2% is the lowest headline transfer tax here, and it applies only if you are going to live in the
property. Italy’s 9% looks like the worst of these until you notice it is charged on cadastral
value.
Where the process itself differs — who holds the money, what the preliminary contract
commits you to, when the tax falls due — the individual country guides go through it step
by step.
Figures compiled 2026 from published guidance including
Global Property Guide,
Idealista and
Idealista Italia.
Rates change, vary by region and by property type, and the assessed value a tax is charged on is
not something you can calculate from the asking price. Treat this as a map of the differences,
not as a quote — and get a figure for your specific purchase from your own notary or
lawyer before committing.