Sorello Guides

Sant Cugat del Vallès: purchase costs and the yearly bill

Sant Cugat del Vallès is one of the larger municipalities of Barcelona, with a housing stock too varied to describe by a single average. At 5.063,4 €/m² this is one of the dearest municipalities in the country to buy into. Almost nothing here is a second home: 12,42 % of dwellings are not somebody's main residence.

The bill that lands on the day of the deed

Catalonia charges transfer tax on a progressive scale rather than a single rate, starting at 10 % and rising through bands as the value goes up; the table below applies the scale bracket by bracket. At the prices Sant Cugat del Vallès commands, the Catalonia transfer tax alone exceeds the whole purchase price of a flat in much of Spain.

Transfer tax on a resale purchase, at three illustrative prices
Purchase priceTransfer tax
200.000 €20.000 €
350.000 €35.000 €
600.000 €60.000 €

The three prices are round illustrative figures chosen to bracket the ordinary range, not measurements of this market.

The reduced rates, stamp duty and the deed checklist for Catalonia

A sense of scale

Among the Barcelona towns and cities covered here, it records the highest average cadastral value per home.

On a national view, its average cadastral value per home falls into the dearest twentieth of them all.

Line the Barcelona municipalities in this guide up by appraised value of a home under five years old and this one is the highest.

Set the national range end to end and this appraised value per square metre lands in the dearest twentieth of them all.

On appraised value of an older home it is the highest of the Barcelona municipalities this guide covers.

The comparison that matters

Nationally, that share of the urban register that is housing falls in the cheapest twentieth of them.

Judged only against Barcelona, the population here is the eighth highest in the guide.

Across the country, the number of urban cadastral units here belongs to the top quarter.

Ranked against its neighbours in Barcelona, it holds the tenth highest total dwelling stock of the group.

Across the country, the count of registered residential units here belongs to the band just below the top quarter.

A sense of scale

Judged only against Barcelona, the share of dwellings that are not a main residence here is the fifteenth highest in the guide.

Set the national range end to end and this number of appraisals behind the average lands in the top quarter.

Take Barcelona alone: among the municipalities here, its rural property-tax rate is the fourteenth highest.

Over the whole guide, the number of notarised home sales recorded here falls within the thirteenth twentieth from the bottom.

An ageing cadastral register

The construction tax is 4 %, the statutory maximum, which matters if you plan to renovate.

Sant Cugat del Vallès has not revalued since 2006, which is long enough for the gap to market values to be substantial.

The annual cost of holding the property

Sant Cugat del Vallès charges 0,555 % on urban property, modestly below the common level.

The register values the average Sant Cugat del Vallès home at 171.229 €, which is where the yearly bill comes from.

Rural property is charged 0,9 %, which is steep for land.

On 180.000 € of cadastral value the 0,555 % rate yields 999 €, on a register that has not been refreshed in a long time.

The cadastral value in this example is a round illustrative figure, not the cadastral value of any particular property here. Ask for the last IBI receipt: it states the real one.

A market at the top of the national range

The figure comes from 306 appraisals in the quarter.

At 5.063,4 €/m², Sant Cugat del Vallès is among the most expensive places in Spain by appraised value.

Homes under five years old are appraised at 5.690,3 €/m² against 5.035,9 €/m² for older stock — a modest premium.

How many homes change hands

Sales clustered in Fourth quarter and thinned in First quarter, the ordinary Spanish seasonal pattern.

982 home sales went through the notaries in Sant Cugat del Vallès in the year — a quiet market.

With 34.731 residential units on the register, that is moderate turnover of the existing stock.

Notarised home sales by quarter, 2025
QuarterSales
First quarter200
Second quarter260
Third quarter245
Fourth quarter277

A stock of homes people actually live in

34.731 of 67.944 urban units are residential, a housing-led register.

Only 12,42 % of Sant Cugat del Vallès dwellings are not somebody's main home, so the market is driven by people who live here.

At 25,43 % of main homes rented, Sant Cugat del Vallès has a rental sector large enough to set the tone of the market.

Related guides

Sources and licences