Buying a Home in Portugal

I bought my home here after renting for a few years, and the part that surprised me most wasn't finding the property — it was the sequence. There's a natural order: sort out the tax number and the bank, secure the financing, sign the promissory contract with the deposit, do due diligence on the paperwork and, only at the end, the deed. Each step has its own cost. I'll walk through all of them.

The figures I cite are for 2026 and are confirmed in the official sources at the end of the article. All of this changes with the State Budget (Orçamento do Estado), so treat the numbers as a starting point, not gospel.

First of all: NIF and a bank account

You can't buy anything in Portugal without a NIF (tax identification number). It's required for the deed, for the mortgage, for everything. If you don't have one yet, sort it out first — we have a guide just for that. Next, open a Portuguese bank account: you'll need it for the payments, and if you're going to apply for a mortgage, that's where the bank runs the process.

Financing and pre-approval

If you're paying cash, skip to the CPCV. If you're applying for a mortgage, start with pre-approval before making offers. The bank reviews your income and gives you an indicative amount — that way you know how much you can offer without getting left hanging.

Two numbers rule the mortgage. The first is how much the bank lends: usually up to 90% of the lower of the purchase price and the valuation the bank itself commissions. The remaining 10% (plus taxes and fees) comes out of your pocket. The second is the rate. Most mortgages are indexed to the Euribor plus a bank spread; there are also fixed and mixed rates. The spread is negotiable and varies a lot depending on the bank, your profile and the products you accept (insurance, having your salary paid into the account).

The CPCV and the deposit

Once the offer is accepted, you sign the CPCV — the promissory contract of purchase and sale (contrato-promessa de compra e venda). It's the document that binds both parties to the deal while the mortgage and the paperwork are sorted. The CPCV sets out the price, the deadline for the deed, what's included and, above all, the deposit.

The deposit is normally 10% of the price and is paid when the CPCV is signed. It's no small detail: it's the guarantee of the deal. Article 442 of the Civil Code sets out the rules clearly.

1. 1
   The buyer backs out
   If it's the buyer's fault, they lose the deposit they paid. The seller keeps it.
2. 2
   The seller backs out
   The seller returns the deposit in double — that's the sinal em dobro.
3. 3
   Force the sale instead
   The non-defaulting party can ask a court for specific performance (execução específica) and force the deal through.

Due diligence: the paperwork

This is the unglamorous part that heads off the nightmares. Before going ahead, I would check — or ask a lawyer/solicitor to check — four documents:

• Caderneta predial (property tax record) — the property's tax record at Finanças (the tax authority). It states who the owner is for tax purposes, the description and the taxable asset value (VPT).
• Certidão permanente de registo predial (land registry certificate) — who really owns it and what encumbrances exist: mortgages, seizures, usufructs. This is where you find out whether the house has debts hanging over it.
• Licença de utilização (use licence, from the town council) — confirms the property can be used as housing. Without it, serious problems.
• Certificado energético (energy certificate) — mandatory in order to sell; it shows the energy rating. Its absence is, in itself, a red flag.

If any of these documents doesn't add up — areas that don't match, unlicensed building work, an encumbrance nobody mentioned — it's better to know before the deposit than after.

The deed (escritura)

The escritura (the formal sale) is the last step: it's where ownership passes into your name. It can be done at a notary's office (cartório notarial), at a Casa Pronta counter (a registry service that bundles the deed and registrations into a single act) or through lawyers and solicitors with authentication powers. When there's a mortgage, the bank usually schedules and organises everything.

1. 1
   Pay the taxes first
   IMT and stamp duty must be paid before the deed — you bring the proof to the signing.
2. 2
   Sign the deed
   Both parties (and the bank, if there's a mortgage) sign. The remaining price is transferred.
3. 3
   Register the purchase
   The acquisition (and the mortgage) are registered in your name. Casa Pronta does this in the same act.

The costs: who pays what

The one who bears the bulk of the transaction costs is the buyer. The agent's commission, on the other hand, is normally the seller's. Here's what comes from your side:

IMT, the big one

The IMT (Municipal Tax on Property Transfers — Imposto Municipal sobre as Transmissões Onerosas de Imóveis) is the largest charge and the one that varies most. It applies to the higher of the price and the VPT, on progressive brackets. For a permanent own home on the mainland, in 2026, there's no IMT up to €106,346; above that, marginal rates of 2%, 5%, 7% and 8% apply up to €660,982, with flat rates of 6% and 7.5% at the highest values. The calculation uses an amount to deduct, so the best way to know the exact figure is with a simulator.

There's one important benefit: buyers aged 35 or under purchasing their first permanent own home get full exemption from IMT and stamp duty up to €330,539 (2026 figure) and partial relief between €330,539 and €660,982. Above that, there's no benefit. The exemption is applied for at the tax authority (Autoridade Tributária) — online, at a Finanças office or through the services handling the deed.

Stamp duty (Imposto do Selo)

You pay two stamp duties: 0.8% on the purchase price and, if there's a mortgage, 0.6% on the amount financed when the term is five years or more (0.5% if it's under five years). On a house with a mortgage, the two add up.

Registrations and the deed

There are two channels. Via Predial Online, the registration per act is around €225 (acquisition and mortgage count as separate acts). Via Casa Pronta, which bundles the deed and registrations at a single counter, one act costs €375 and a process with more than one act — the usual case of a purchase with a mortgage (acquisition + mortgage) — costs €700 in total. The preference-right notice costs €15. On top of these come small fees (copies of the contract, authentications). If you go through a notary's office, the notary's fees are separate. Young buyers with the IMT exemption (aged 35 or under, first home) are exempt from these registration fees.

To add it all up for your specific figure — IMT, both stamp duties and the registrations — use the cost calculator. It's the honest way to know, before signing the CPCV, how much the house is really going to cost you.