Sorello Guides

Buying in Cartagena: tax, IBI and the market

38,34 % of the housing stock is not a main residence, a genuinely mixed town. Cartagena is a city, and in Murcia that means its districts behave like separate markets that happen to share a town hall. At 1.496,0 €/m² the appraised average sits below the national middle.

The one-off cost at signing

The Region of Murcia rate is 7,75 %, around the middle of the Spanish range. Buying an existing home in Cartagena means paying the Region of Murcia transfer tax on top of the price, not out of it.

Transfer tax on a resale purchase, at three illustrative prices
Purchase priceTransfer tax
200.000 €15.500 €
350.000 €27.125 €
600.000 €46.500 €

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 Region of Murcia

Put beside its neighbours

On count of registered residential units it is the second highest of the Murcia municipalities this guide covers.

Set the national range end to end and this total dwelling stock lands in the second-dearest twentieth.

Judged only against Murcia, the number of urban cadastral units here is the second highest in the guide.

Nationally, that number of notarised home sales falls in the second-dearest twentieth.

Compared with the rest of Murcia in this guide, it sits second highest on population.

How it ranks

Set the national range end to end and this number of appraisals behind the average lands in the second-dearest twentieth.

On appraised value of a home under five years old it is the second lowest of the Murcia municipalities this guide covers.

Nationally, that share of dwellings that are not a main residence falls in the third-dearest twentieth.

Judged only against Murcia, the year of the last cadastral revision here is the lowest in the guide.

Against every municipality in this guide, its appraised value of an older home lands in the second-cheapest twentieth.

Put beside its neighbours

Within Murcia, that is the fifth lowest average cadastral value per home among the municipalities this guide covers.

Measured against the whole batch, that average cadastral value per home sits in the fourth-cheapest twentieth.

Within Murcia, that is the fourth highest appraised value per square metre among the municipalities this guide covers.

Across the country, the premium a new build commands over an older home here belongs to the band just above the bottom quarter.

A stock split between residents and visitors

38,34 % of the Cartagena stock is not a main residence, so resident and visitor demand compete for the same buildings.

The census counted 125.253 dwellings across the municipality.

13,77 % of main homes are rented in Cartagena, below the national pattern.

The recurring yearly cost

Rural land carries 0,7 %, close to the urban rate.

At 0,598 %, the Cartagena urban IBI rate is an ordinary one.

The typical Cartagena home is on the register at 46.452 €, below the national middle.

The arithmetic is 180.000 € at 0,598 %, or 1.076 € a year — on a register so old that the rate tells you little about the eventual bill.

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.

The pace of sales

Cartagena saw 3.753 notarised home sales over the year, a steady rate for its population.

Second quarter was the busiest quarter and Third quarter the thinnest, but the spread was mild.

With 125.575 residential units on the register, that is moderate turnover of the existing stock.

Notarised home sales by quarter, 2025
QuarterSales
First quarter911
Second quarter1.006
Third quarter846
Fourth quarter990

A cadastral register left untouched for decades

Cartagena last revalued its cadastre in 1997, so today's rate is charged on a base from another era — the revision risk is real.

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

The market in appraisal terms

Cartagena housing is appraised at 1.496,0 €/m² on average.

775 appraisals stand behind it, enough for the average to be stable.

Homes under five years old are appraised at 1.609,2 €/m² against 1.494,2 €/m² for older stock — a modest premium.

Related guides

Sources and licences