Buying a house in Marbella
What buying here costs, read from the statutes and from this site's own price census rather than from anyone's brochure: the taxes are set by law, the notary runs on a 1989 tariff, and the asking prices are measured on their own pages. No advice follows. This page reports what the documents say.
Rates and statutes read from the sources linked beside them, 31 August 2026.
The asking prices
Start with what the market asks, measured on this site rather than repeated from a portal: the property-price page tracks the €3M-plus census with its median and price per square metre, the villa file follows the villa market, and the rent page reads the rental side from official series. Those pages carry the numbers and their methods; this page carries what the state adds on top.
Resale: 7% transfer tax
A resale purchase in Andalucía pays ITP, the property transfer tax, at a flat 7% of the price: one rate, no brackets, in force for operations since 28 April 2021 and written into the region's own tax law. Reduced rates exist for a main home under €150,000 and for specific buyer categories, thresholds that describe rather little of the Marbella market.
- ITP on resale, Andalucía, since 28-04-2021
- 7%
- Legal basis
- Ley 5/2021, art. 41
- Reduced ITP cases (main home ≤ €150,000, and specific buyers)
- 6% / 3.5%
New build: 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD
A first delivery from a developer pays no ITP; it pays 10% IVA, the rate the VAT law sets for dwellings including up to two garage spaces transmitted with them, plus AJD, the stamp duty on the notarised deed, at Andalucía's general 1.2%. The arithmetic is the point: the state's cut on a new build runs above the resale rate, before the developer's own pricing says a word.
Notary, registry and the fee nobody publishes
The notary and the land registry charge by tariffs fixed in royal decrees from 1989, scaled to the deed value in tranches: the tariff is public, a typical total is not, so none is printed here. The lawyer is the line with no official number at all: bar associations may not publish fee scales, and the Colegio de Abogados de Málaga formally withdrew its guidance criteria (the bar's own notice). Any percentage you are quoted is a market price, not a rule.
- Notary fees, tariff by royal decree
- RD 1426/1989
- Land-registry fees, tariff by royal decree
- RD 1427/1989
The paperwork
A foreign buyer needs an NIE, the foreigner identification number the Interior Ministry issues, before signing anything that involves the tax office. It is a document requirement, not a restriction on buying: Spain does not limit who may own a home here. The rest of the file, deposit contract included, is where the unpublished-fee professionals earn whatever you agreed to pay them.
- Foreigner identification number, required
- NIE
Questions
How much tax do you pay when buying a house in Marbella?
On a resale, 7% ITP, flat across Andalucía since April 2021. On a new build, 10% IVA plus 1.2% AJD. Reduced ITP rates exist for a main home under €150,000 and specific buyer categories, thresholds that rarely describe a Marbella transaction.
Do you need a lawyer to buy a house in Spain?
The law requires a notary, not a lawyer. Most foreign buyers hire one anyway; what one costs is published nowhere official, the Málaga bar having withdrawn its fee criteria, so treat any percentage you are quoted as a market price, not a rule.
Can foreigners buy property in Marbella?
Yes. The requirement is an NIE, the foreigner identification number issued by the Interior Ministry, and it is documentary: Spain does not restrict who may own a home.
Is Marbella property a good investment?
That is a question for someone selling something. What this site publishes is data: the asking-price census, the villa file and the rent page, each with its method stated and its sources linked. Read them and draw your own curve.
Every rate on this page is read from the responsible administration's own page or the consolidated law on the BOE, linked beside the figure. Where the state sets a tariff rather than a figure, the tariff is linked and no typical amount is invented; where nobody official publishes anything, the page says so. Asking prices live on this site's own census pages, with their method stated there.