European property transaction costs are 'punitive' and 'shocking', a survey claims. Buyers of brand new properties can pay the equivalent of 33 per cent of the purchase price in estate agent fees, legal costs and taxes, a report from website Global Property Guide shows.
For resale properties, total transaction costs can equal 25 per cent of the purchase price in some countries, its report, High Housing Transaction Costs in Europe, reveals.
The Global Property Guide's publisher, Matthew Montagu-Pollock, warned homebuyers to beware of these expenses when considering a European purchase. 'For a person who does not intend to spend his entire life in a house and even more for an investor, high transaction costs are a very major issue,' he said,
'It is hard not to over-emphasise their financial importance. You may not be concerned about losing 25 per cent of your total outlay in one fell swoop but most people would be.'
Analysing the costs of buying and selling a GBP250,000 (HK$3.85 million) city condominium home in 37 European states, the report says transaction charges are 'punitively high', especially in Russia and Bulgaria where they are 25 per cent for resale properties.
Countries with French origin legal systems were more expensive collectively than those with other legal frameworks, the report reveals. Priciest of those with French-based systems was Monaco, where costs total 19.7 per cent. Charges in the other French-based system countries were Belgium (17.9 per cent), Italy (17 per cent), France (16.3 per cent), Luxembourg (15.7 per cent) and Greece (15.5 per cent).