How much does it really cost a foreigner to buy property in Portugal in 2026?

A non-resident foreign buyer pays roughly 9% to 10% above the sticker price in taxes and fees on a standard purchase, before the currency-exchange spread. The jump comes from IMT: since 25 May 2026, under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, a non-resident pays a flat 7.5% transfer tax instead of the progressive scale, so on a €500,000 home the IMT alone is €37,500. The rest is 0.8% Imposto do Selo stamp duty, 1% to 1.5% combined notary and land-registry fees, and a typical independent lawyer fee of 1% to 1.5% or €1,800 to €4,500. A buyer who is, or becomes within two years, a Portuguese tax resident keeps the progressive scale and pays closer to 7% to 8%. A non-resident mortgage adds roughly another 1%, and the currency-exchange spread is separate: on a €500,000 purchase, a high-street bank rate can cost €15,000 more than a specialist broker.

Does the cost of buying change between Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve, Madeira and the Silver Coast?

The percentage barely changes between regions, but the euro amount does. Stamp duty and the structure of fees are national, and since 25 May 2026 a non-resident pays the same flat 7.5% IMT everywhere on the mainland (Madeira and the Azores run a separate IMT schedule). What changes by region is the typical purchase price, highest in Lisbon and lowest on the Silver Coast, so the euro total rises and falls with the price even though the all-in percentage for a non-resident stays in a roughly 9% to 10% band. A resident who buys keeps the progressive scale and sits closer to 7% to 8%.

What is the currency-exchange spread and why do most cost guides miss it?

When you buy in euros from a foreign-currency account, someone converts your money, and the rate they give you is not the mid-market rate you see on Google. A high-street bank typically builds in a 3% to 4% markup; a specialist currency broker typically charges 0.4% to 0.6%. On a €500,000 purchase that gap is around €15,000. Most cost guides only count taxes and legal fees because those are published and fixed, while the FX spread is invisible and varies by who moves your money, which is exactly why it is the cost foreign buyers overpay most often.

What does a non-resident mortgage cost in Portugal in 2026?

A non-resident buyer typically borrows up to 60% to 70% of the price and pays a bank arrangement fee plus a valuation fee, together roughly €3,000 to €4,500 up front, about 1% of a mid-priced purchase. The interest rate is set as a spread over 6-month Euribor; the average non-resident spread was about 1.78% over Euribor in March 2026, according to Banco de Portugal. Six banks handle most non-resident lending, including Millennium BCP, Novobanco, BPI and Santander Totta. Mortgage costs are excluded from the headline all-in percentage because they apply only to mortgage buyers.

Do foreigners pay a higher property tax in Portugal?

On IMT, since 25 May 2026, often yes, though the trigger is tax residency, not nationality. Under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026 a non-resident pays a flat 7.5% IMT, while a resident keeps the progressive scale, so a non-resident usually pays more IMT than a local buying the same home. Stamp duty, IMI and AIMI carry no residency-based or nationality-based rate. A non-resident can apply the progressive rates, or claim a refund of the difference, by being or becoming a Portuguese tax resident within two years, or by leasing the home at moderate rent for at least 36 months within the first five years. This index leads with the non-resident flat 7.5% figure and shows the resident progressive figure for contrast.

How is this index calculated and how often is it updated?

The index applies the 2026 secondary-home IMT schedule from the Autoridade Tributária (Código do IMT), the 0.8% stamp duty from the Código do Imposto do Selo, notary and registry fees from the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado, typical lawyer fees from market practice, non-resident mortgage data from Banco de Portugal, and idealista regional price medians to set a representative purchase price per region. Fixed statutory items (IMT, stamp duty) are exact; notary, lawyer, FX and IMI figures are market-range estimates and are marked as modeled in the CSV. It is refreshed when the State Budget changes the brackets, at least annually.

Cost Index · 2026 edition · Published 2026-06-21

Portugal Foreign Buyer Cost Index 2026

Name: Portugal Foreign Buyer Cost Index 2026
Creator: Portugal Property Invest
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

By Emanuel Tamir, Real Estate Advisor

The Portugal Foreign Buyer Cost Index is the real all-in cost of buying property in Portugal as a foreigner in 2026, broken down by region. It covers IMT transfer tax, which since 25 May 2026 is a flat 7.5% for non-resident buyers under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, Imposto do Selo stamp duty, notary and land-registry fees, independent lawyer fees, non-resident mortgage costs, first-year IMI, and the currency-exchange spread that most cost guides leave out. Every figure is attributed to a source below.

Quick answer

Buying property in Portugal as a non-resident foreigner in 2026 costs roughly 9% to 10% above the sticker price in taxes and fees, and that is before the currency-exchange spread. The jump comes from IMT: since 25 May 2026, under Decreto-Lei n.º 97/2026, a non-resident pays a flat 7.5% transfer tax instead of the progressive scale, so on a €500,000 home the IMT alone is €37,500. A buyer who is, or becomes within two years, a Portuguese tax resident keeps the progressive scale and pays closer to 7% to 8%. On top of all this, moving money through a high-street bank rather than a specialist broker can quietly cost another €15,000.

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