ES Spain · Housing affordability
How much house can I afford in Spain?
A household in Spain with net income of EURa year, with EURin savings available, can afford ...
Maximum purchase price . Spanish bank affordability test
EUR 188k
Bound by your income (35% rule) · EUR 150k mortgage on EUR 38k down
The two rules
Spain has two rules. Both must be met.
Spanish banks follow the Banco de Espana guidelines. The 35% debt-to-income ceiling is the practical limit — but without 20% cash, no bank will approve you.
35%
Maximum tasa de endeudamiento
Total monthly debt service — all loan repayments combined — cannot exceed approximately 35% of net household income. This is the standard threshold applied by virtually all Spanish banks.
debt <= income x 0.35
20%
Minimum down payment (entrada)
Banks finance a maximum of 80% LTV for primary residences. You need at least 20% of the purchase price as entrada, plus an additional 8-12% to cover buying costs (ITP, notary, registro).
entrada >= 0.20 x price
Have a place in mind?
Drop in a price and see where it fails.
Each test is independent: you need to clear both. The 35% income rule limits your monthly payment; the 20% down payment rule ensures you have skin in the game and can cover buying costs.
EUR
2 of 2 tests fail.
35% income ruleshort EUR 10k
You have EUR 30k/yrNeed EUR 40k/yr
20% down paymentshort EUR 10k
You have EUR 40kNeed EUR 50k
The lever you can actually pull
Two ceilings. Whichever is lower wins.
With your savings fixed, the price you can afford scales linearly with income — until the down payment rule starts to bind. Above the kink, more salary will not buy you a bigger place; more savings will.
What you can affordIncome limit (5.6× gross)Total down (5× cash + pension)
Your monthly budget
What you would actually pay each month.
Spain uses the actual rate — no stress test. Your monthly payment at 3.0% over 25 years is what you qualify on and what you pay. No mandatory borrower insurance in Spain.
Monthly headroom
0
The stress test charges you 1.0× what you will actually pay. That spread is what you have, in theory, to absorb a rate cycle, or invest, if you would rather.
Where this lands you
Median apartment, by city.
Your purchase-price ceiling (drawn in cyan) cuts across the price of a typical apartment in Spain's most expensive cities. Cities above the line are out of reach without more income or more savings.
San Sebastian
EUR 380k
Barcelona
EUR 350k
Madrid
EUR 340k
Palma de Mallorca
EUR 320k
Bilbao
EUR 280k
Malaga
EUR 260k
Valencia
EUR 200k
Seville
EUR 150k
Alicante
EUR 170k
Zaragoza
EUR 150k
Within reachOut of reachYour ceiling · EUR 188k
Before you sign
This is probably the largest financial commitment of your life.
A home purchase is not just the price tag. There are significant costs on top that are not included in the affordability test above.
6-10%
ITP (varies by region)
The Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales on resale properties ranges from 6% (Madrid, Navarra) to 10% (Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia). New-build properties pay 10% IVA instead. This is the single largest buying cost.
~0.8%
Notary + registro + gestoria
Notary fees (~0.5%), property registry (registro, ~0.3%), and the gestoria (administrative agent who handles paperwork) together add about 0.8% of the purchase price. The gestoria is optional but practically universal.
?
IBI + comunidad + seguros
Annual IBI (Impuesto sobre Bienes Inmuebles) property tax varies by municipality (0.4-1.1% of cadastral value). Community fees (gastos de comunidad) for apartments add EUR 50-200/month. Home insurance is required by the bank but not by law.
None of this means you should not buy. It means you should go in with open eyes. The affordability test tells you what you can do. Whether you should depends on how long you plan to stay, your alternative investments, and the local market dynamics.
For scale
What else costs about EUR 188k?
- Four years of tuition at IE Business School · EUR 90k2.08×
- A cortijo in rural Andalusia with an olive grove · EUR 120k1.56×
- A two-bedroom apartment in Zaragoza · EUR 150k1.25×
- A sailboat moored in Palma de Mallorca with 5 years of berth fees · EUR 180k1.04×
- EUR 600/month invested at 6% real for 20 years (final portfolio value) · EUR 285k0.66×
- A three-bedroom apartment in Valencia's Eixample · EUR 250k0.75×
- A penthouse in Malaga with sea views · EUR 350k0.54×
- A townhouse in the Basque Country (San Sebastian suburbs) · EUR 450k0.42×
- A modernista apartment in Barcelona's Eixample (100m2) · EUR 550k0.34×
See the full income x down payment matrix
income (down) / savings (right)
EUR 30k
EUR 60k
EUR 100k
EUR 200k
30.000/yr
EUR 150k
savings-bound
EUR 188k
income-bound
EUR 188k
income-bound
EUR 188k
income-bound
50.000/yr
EUR 150k
savings-bound
EUR 300k
savings-bound
EUR 313k
income-bound
EUR 313k
income-bound
80.000/yr
EUR 150k
savings-bound
EUR 300k
savings-bound
EUR 500k
income-bound
EUR 500k
income-bound
120.000/yr
EUR 150k
savings-bound
EUR 300k
savings-bound
EUR 500k
savings-bound
EUR 750k
income-bound
180.000/yr
EUR 150k
savings-bound
EUR 300k
savings-bound
EUR 500k
savings-bound
EUR 1M
savings-bound
Net income used. No mandatory insurance included.
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Next steps
Tools and guides to get you there.
Mortgage calculatorBuild an amortization schedule with extra payments. See total interest and how fast you pay it off.CalculateSavings goal plannerSet your down-payment target and a deadline. We back-solve the monthly savings rate you need.PlanCompound interestSee how your down-payment savings grow over time. Visualize the difference one extra year makes.ProjectBuying your first homeA step-by-step guide covering down payments, mortgage options, and the true cost of homeownership.Read
Frequently asked
The Banco de Espana recommends that total debt service — all loan repayments combined — should not exceed approximately 35% of net household income. While not a hard legal cap like in France, virtually all Spanish banks enforce this threshold in their internal credit scoring. Exceeding it will result in automatic rejection by most lenders.
Spain has traditionally been a variable-rate market, with most mortgages indexed to the 12-month Euribor. Since the 2022 rate hikes, fixed-rate mortgages have surged in popularity and now represent over half of new originations. Variable rates (Euribor + spread, currently ~3%) are lower at origination but carry interest-rate risk. Fixed rates (~3.0-3.5%) lock in predictability. The 2019 mortgage law (Ley 5/2019) also capped early repayment fees, making switching cheaper.
The Impuesto de Transmisiones Patrimoniales (ITP) is Spain's transfer tax on resale properties, equivalent to stamp duty. It is set by each comunidad autonoma and ranges from 6% (Madrid, Navarra) to 10% (Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia). New-build properties pay IVA (10%) instead plus AJD (0.5-1.5%). This regional variation can mean a EUR 10,000-15,000 difference on a typical purchase.
Non-resident buyers face stricter conditions: banks typically finance only 60-70% LTV (versus 80% for residents), meaning a 30-40% down payment is required. Interest rates may be 0.5-1% higher. You will also need a NIE (Numero de Identificacion de Extranjero) and a Spanish bank account. Tax obligations differ: non-residents pay IRNR (19-24%) on rental income and are subject to the 3% retention on the sale price when selling.
A tasacion is an official property appraisal conducted by a certified valuation company (sociedad de tasacion) registered with the Banco de Espana. It is legally mandatory for any mortgage-backed purchase. The appraisal typically costs EUR 300-500 and determines the maximum loan amount — banks lend against the lower of the purchase price or the appraised value. If the tasacion comes in below the agreed price, you will need to cover the difference with additional savings.
Since the 2019 mortgage law (Ley 5/2019), most mortgage setup costs are borne by the bank, not the buyer. The bank pays the notary, registro, gestoria, and AJD tax on the mortgage deed. The buyer still pays for the tasacion (EUR 300-500), and a possible opening commission (comision de apertura, increasingly rare). This was a significant change — before 2019, buyers paid all these costs, which could add EUR 2,000-4,000 to the total.
The mortgage interest deduction was eliminated for purchases after January 1, 2013. If you purchased your primary residence before that date, you can still deduct up to 15% of amounts paid (capital + interest) on a maximum base of EUR 9,040/year, giving a maximum annual benefit of EUR 1,356. For purchases after 2013, there is no IRPF deduction for home purchase. Some comunidades autonomas offer their own deductions for first-time buyers or young buyers, but these are small.