What a Spanish purchase really costs in November 2026: record prices, dearer credit, taxation that varies by region

The resale square metre has reached €2,955 in Spain, its highest level since 2006. But the asking price is only part of the bill: Euribor back up at 3.311%, transfer duties ranging from 6% to 13% depending on the autonomous community, and a vote in Congress on 12 November. A breakdown, figures in hand.

On 4 November, idealista published its October prices: €2,955/sqm for resale housing in Spain, up 11.2% year on year — the highest level since the series began in 2006. Stopping at that figure would be a misreading: the asking price is only part of the outlay. To it must be added the cost of credit, which has stopped falling, and an acquisition tax burden that varies twofold from one region to the next.

A national record, a very uneven map

All seventeen autonomous communities are rising, but the most expensive markets are rising the least. The Balearics remain top at €5,619/sqm with the lowest increase in the country (+4.2%); Madrid follows at €5,066/sqm (+5.5%) and Andalusia stands at €2,968/sqm (+9.8%). The sharpest increases come from the interior: Castilla-La Mancha +15.4%, Cantabria +14.2%, Aragon +13%. Málaga is Spain's fourth most expensive province, at €4,322/sqm. Appraisals confirm the slowdown: Gesvalt measures €2,085/sqm in the third quarter, up 10.6% year on year after +16.4% in the first.

The cost of money has stopped falling

On 29 October, the European Central Bank left its rates unchanged: 2.50% on the deposit facility, 2.65% on main refinancing operations, 2.90% on the marginal lending facility. The statement gives the reason: rising energy prices are tilting inflation risks to the upside, and financing conditions have tightened. Twelve-month Euribor followed, from a 3.239% average in October to 3.311% in November. In August, the INE recorded an average rate of 3.08% on new mortgages, the highest since January 2025.

Translated into a monthly payment, the effect is measurable. A non-resident is usually financed up to about 70% of the appraised value over twenty years: on a €1,500,000 purchase, that is a €1,050,000 loan, costing €5,865 a month at 3.08% against €6,536 at 4.311% — November's Euribor plus one point of margin. Between the October and November averages alone, the gap is €40 a month.

Acquisition tax: from 6% to 13% depending on the region

This is the item foreign buyers most underestimate. A resale home is subject to transfer tax (ITP), whose rate is set by the autonomous community; a new-build home instead carries 10% VAT plus stamp duty (AJD). Andalusia applies 7% ITP and 1.2% AJD, a regime made permanent by Ley 5/2021; Madrid is at 6%, the Canaries at 6.5%, Valencia at 9%. The Balearics apply a progressive scale, from 8% up to €400,000 to 13% above two million (Decreto Legislativo 1/2014, art. 10).

On a €1,500,000 resale, Andalusian ITP comes to €105,000; the same property in the Balearics is taxed €150,000, a €45,000 difference for an identical price. On a new build in Andalusia: 10% VAT (€150,000) plus 1.2% AJD (€18,000), or €63,000 more than resale. Two points worth noting: since Real Decreto-ley 17/2018, the stamp duty on the mortgage deed is borne by the bank; and the ITP taxable base is the cadastral valor de referencia where it exceeds the agreed price, a mechanism upheld by the Constitutional Court in February 2026.

What is at stake on 12 November

Congress confirmed on 4 November that it would put the housing decrees to a ratification vote on 12 November. The text in force is Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 of 6 October: its article 7 amends article 91.Uno.2.2º of Ley 37/1992 and, from 1 December 2026, applies 10% VAT to furnished lettings of thirty nights or fewer to the same tenant, except where the landlord habitually resides in the property. Its article 8 allows municipalities to increase the IBI on tourist dwellings in stressed market areas, by tax ordinance.

What a foreign buyer should check

• Obtain the NIE and open a Spanish bank account before signing.
• Check which regime applies — resale (ITP) or new build (VAT + AJD) — and compare the price with the cadastral valor de referencia, the minimum ITP base.
• Budget for the deposit and the duties: on €1,500,000 in Andalusia, €450,000 plus €105,000 of ITP.
• For a short-term letting, check the registration number and read the municipality's IBI tax ordinance.

And on the Costa del Sol

Andalusia combines two advantages that reinforce each other. Its 7% ITP is among the lowest of Spain's prime coastlines — a €45,000 saving on a €1,500,000 purchase compared with the Balearics. And local taxation points the same way: on 3 November, Marbella's council approved a revision of its tax ordinances. The differentiated IBI rate on leisure and hospitality premises with the highest cadastral values falls from 1% to 0.82%, a 50% IBI allowance is created for homes let at capped rents, and the general IBI rate stays at 0.65% within a legal range of 0.4% to 1.2%. Marbella, where the square metre reached €5,974 in October, is easing the burden just as the State opens the door for municipalities to increase it.

Cross-reading a price per square metre, a cost of credit, a regional scale and a municipal ordinance passed the week before: that is the work VINSIX Real Estate Advisory carries out. Groupe VINSIX S.A. is present in Switzerland, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Paraguay.

Key points

• Resale housing at €2,955/sqm in Spain in October 2026 (+11.2% year on year), a record since 2006; Málaga the fourth most expensive province at €4,322/sqm.
• Credit is tightening again: the ECB held at 2.50% on 29 October, twelve-month Euribor at 3.311% in November against 3.239% in October.
• Transfer duties range from 6% to 13% depending on the region: on €1,500,000, €105,000 in Andalusia against €150,000 in the Balearics.
• On 12 November Congress votes on ratifying the housing decrees; 10% VAT on lettings of thirty nights or fewer applies from 1 December 2026.

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