The asking price is the number you negotiate. It is not the number that leaves your account. Between the two sit transfer tax, notary fees, registry fees and legal costs, and across Southern Europe the difference between the cheapest and most expensive country is large enough to change which purchase makes sense.
Here is the shape of it. Every figure is a range, because most of these costs are set regionally or scale with the property.
Greece: roughly 4 to 5%
The lightest of the four.
- Transfer tax: 3% of the higher of the purchase price or the objective (assessed) value, plus a 0.09% municipal surcharge, so 3.09% in practice.
- Notary: about 0.8 to 1% of value, plus 24% VAT on the fee, which works out near 1% all in.
- Land registry: about 0.5%.
- Legal fees on top, typically around 1%.
Primary-residence relief exists with tax-free thresholds, but it is aimed at residents rather than at foreign buyers of a second home.
Portugal: roughly 8 to 9% for a non-resident
The most changed of the four, and the change went one way.
- IMT: a flat 7.5% for buyers who are not tax-resident in Portugal, since 25 May 2026. No brackets, no reductions, no main-home exemption.
- Stamp duty: 0.8%.
- Notary and registration on top.
Taxes alone are 8.3% before anyone sends you a fee note. We wrote this one up separately in Portugal now charges non-residents a flat 7.5% transfer tax, including the two routes to reclaiming the difference.
Spain: roughly 8 to 14%, depending entirely on where
Spain has no single answer, because transfer tax is regional.
- ITP on a resale property: about 6% to 13% depending on the autonomous community. Andalusia is a flat 7%. Murcia is 7.75%. The Valencian Community moved to 9% up to €1,000,000 and 11% above it on 1 June 2026. Catalonia runs a progressive scale and sits at the expensive end.
- Notary, registry and legal fees typically add 1 to 2%.
Two identical apartments in two different communities can differ by five percentage points of purchase cost. On €600,000 that is €30,000, decided by a regional border.
Italy: roughly 10 to 15%
- Registration tax: about 9% of the cadastral value for a second home, or about 2% where first-home relief applies. Note the base is the cadastral value, not the price, which often works in the buyer's favour.
- Notary: 1% to 2.5% of the price, with a practical floor of roughly €1,500 to €3,000.
- Agency commission: 2% to 4% plus VAT, and in Italy the buyer customarily pays a share.
Budgeting 10 to 15% above the agreed price is the standard guidance for a foreign buyer in Italy.
What the spread means
Yield maths should start after costs, not before. A 6% gross yield on a Greek apartment and a 6% gross yield on an Italian one are not the same purchase. You paid roughly 4.5% to enter the first and 12% to enter the second, so the Italian property needs longer before it is level.
The cheapest headline price is not the cheapest purchase. A property €20,000 cheaper in a region with ITP three points higher is more expensive at completion.
Costs are recoverable only through time or price. Purchase taxes are not refundable and do not add to the value of the asset. They are recovered either by holding long enough for growth to absorb them, or by buying below market in the first place.
Before you commit
Get the number for your specific purchase in writing, from someone who practises in that country. Rates move, regions differ, and reliefs turn on facts about you rather than about the property. The specialist directory lists notaries, lawyers and tax advisors by country and category, and you contact the office directly.
Every listing on Onora publishes its price in the seller's own currency with the figures the seller stands behind. The acquisition costs above sit on top of that price, and they are yours.
Rates described are those in force in September 2026 and change regularly. This is general information, not tax or legal advice. See our disclaimer.
