The Atlas · 13 dossiers
How buying really works, market by market.
We do not list homes. Each dossier explains one market: whether a foreigner may buy, the taxes on buying, holding and selling, how residency works, and the steps from offer to deed — with every figure linked to the official page it came from.
By Thomas Lovas Lokoy, Co-founder & Editor · Updated 28 September 2026
Showing 13 of 13 dossiers
- 0143.74° N, 7.42° E
Monaco
Principality of Monaco
A city-state with no annual property tax and no income tax for most residents, where the purchase itself carries a registration duty and residency is granted on means and housing, not on price.
- Registration duty on a sale
- 4.5% or 7.5%
- Annual property or wealth tax
- None
- 0243.70° N, 7.27° E
The French Riviera
France — Côte d'Azur
France runs one of the most formal purchase processes in Europe — a notary on every sale, a statutory cooling-off period, duties collected at completion — and taxes real-estate wealth every year once it passes €1.3 million.
- Duties on an existing home
- 6.31% + 0.10%
- Cooling-off period
- 10 days
- 0346.47° N, 7.28° E
The Swiss Alps
Switzerland — Gstaad, Verbier, Zermatt, St. Moritz
Switzerland is the rare prime market where a foreign buyer may need permission to buy at all. The rules are federal, the quotas are cantonal and the taxes are local — so the answer changes from valley to valley.
- Foreign buyers
- Authorisation required
- Holiday-home permits
- Annual cantonal quotas
- 0451.51° N, 0.13° W
London
United Kingdom — England
London has no restriction on who may buy, but it taxes the purchase heavily and taxes it more when the buyer is not resident, already owns a home, or buys through a company.
- Stamp Duty Land Tax, top band
- 12% above £1.5m
- Company purchases over £500k
- 17% flat
- 0538.72° N, 9.14° W
Lisbon & the Portuguese Coast
Portugal — Lisbon, Cascais, Comporta
Portugal remains open to foreign buyers, but 2026 changed the arithmetic: non-residents buying a home now pay a flat 7.5% transfer tax, and the golden visa has not accepted property for years.
- Transfer tax (IMT), non-resident buyer
- 7.5% flat
- Stamp duty on the purchase
- 0.8%
- 0639.57° N, 2.65° E
Mallorca & Ibiza
Spain — Balearic Islands
The Balearics tax the purchase on a steep regional scale, tax non-resident owners every year on income they never receive, and ended the investor visa in 2025.
- Transfer tax on a resale (ITP)
- 8% – 13%
- New build from a developer
- 10% VAT + stamp duty
- 0745.81° N, 9.09° E
Lake Como & Tuscany
Italy
Italy taxes a private sale on the property's cadastral value rather than its price, keeps a notary at the centre of every deal — and now charges new wealthy residents a €300,000 flat tax on foreign income.
- Registration tax, buying from a private seller
- 9%
- Taxable base
- Cadastral value
- 0840.71° N, 74.01° W
New York City
United States — Manhattan
New York imposes no general bar on foreign buyers, but layers state and city taxes on every expensive sale — and the federal government takes its share when a foreign owner sells or dies.
- Buyer's 'mansion tax' at $1m+
- 1% – 3.9%
- City transfer tax (RPTT)
- 1% or 1.425%
- 0925.76° N, 80.19° W
Miami
United States — Florida
Florida levies no personal income tax, and Miami-Dade charges a modest stamp tax on deeds — but the property-tax breaks are for permanent residents, and state law now restricts some buyers by nationality.
- Documentary stamp tax, Miami-Dade
- $0.60 per $100
- Personal income tax
- None in Florida
- 1034.05° N, 118.24° W
Los Angeles & Malibu
United States — California
In Los Angeles the city boundary is worth knowing before the house: inside the City of LA a sale above $5.4 million carries the 'mansion tax', while Malibu and Beverly Hills are separate cities with rules of their own.
- City of LA transfer tax + Measure ULA
- 4.45% or 5.95%
- County documentary transfer tax
- $1.10 per $1,000
- 1125.20° N, 55.27° E
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Dubai lets foreigners own freehold in designated areas, registers every sale with the Land Department for a 4% fee, protects off-plan buyers with project escrow — and links a long-term visa to property worth AED 2 million.
- Dubai Land Department fee
- 4%
- Foreign ownership
- Freehold areas
- 121.35° N, 103.82° E
Singapore
Republic of Singapore
Singapore is open to foreign buyers of condominiums and closed, without approval, to foreign buyers of houses — and it prices that openness with a 60% additional stamp duty on every residential purchase by a foreigner.
- Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty, foreigners
- 60%
- Buyer's Stamp Duty
- 1% – 6%
- 1337.98° N, 23.73° E
Athens Riviera & the Cyclades
Greece — Athens, Mykonos, Santorini
Greece still taxes a resale lightly, but it has raised the golden-visa threshold in its most sought-after places and announced a far higher transfer tax for buyers from outside the EU.
- Transfer tax on a resale
- 3%
- Announced for non-EU buyers
- 15%
Compare
The Buyer’s Ledger
The same five questions asked of every market. Read the dossier before relying on a line here — the headline rate is rarely the whole story, and several of these rules changed in 2025 and 2026.
| Market | Foreign buyers | Buying: main taxes | Holding | Residency through property | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Monaco | No foreign-buyer restriction stated in official guidance | Registration duty 4.5%–7.5% (1% where VAT applies) | No annual property, wealth or council tax | Residence card on housing and sufficient means — buying is one way to show housing | 6 sources |
| 02 The French Riviera | No foreign-buyer authorisation named by the notaries' guidance | Duties about 6.3% on a resale + notary fees; 20% VAT on new builds | Taxe foncière; taxe d'habitation on second homes; IFI above €1.3m | No residence route through property found | 9 sources |
| 03 The Swiss Alps | Cantonal authorisation (Lex Koller); holiday homes only in designated resorts, within quotas | Notary, land-register and any transfer taxes set by each canton | Cantonal wealth tax and local property levies | No route through property; lump-sum taxation exists in many cantons | 7 sources |
| 04 London | Individuals may buy; overseas companies must first register with Companies House | SDLT to 12%, +5% additional home, +2% non-resident; 17% for some companies | Council tax; ATED on company-held dwellings over £500k | No route through property | 10 sources |
| 05 Lisbon & the Portuguese Coast | Open; a tax number (NIF) first, and a fiscal representative for many non-EU buyers | IMT 7.5% flat for non-resident home buyers + 0.8% stamp duty | IMI 0.3%–0.45%; AIMI above €600k per person | Golden visa excludes real estate | 8 sources |
| 06 Mallorca & Ibiza | Open; a foreigner's identity number (NIE) is needed first | ITP 8%–13% on resales; 10% VAT + 1.5–2% stamp duty on new builds | Imputed-income tax for non-residents; wealth tax above €700k exemption | Investor visa abolished by Organic Law 1/2025 | 10 sources |
| 07 Lake Como & Tuscany | Commonly open; confirm nationality-based reciprocity with the notary | 9% registration tax on cadastral value (private seller); VAT from developers | IMU on second homes, 0.86% base | No property route; €300k flat tax for new residents | 6 sources |
| 08 New York City | No general federal bar found; single homes are outside CFIUS review | Mansion tax 1%–3.9% (buyer); RPTT 1.425% and state 0.4–0.65% (seller) | City property tax by class | No route through property; EB-5 is a separate investment programme | 11 sources |
| 09 Miami | Generally open; Florida restricts buyers domiciled in China (s. 692.204) | Doc stamp $0.60/$100 + $0.45 surtax (Miami-Dade, non-single-family) | County property tax; homestead relief for permanent residents only | No route through property; EB-5 is separate | 10 sources |
| 10 Los Angeles & Malibu | No general federal bar found; single homes are outside CFIUS review | City of LA: 0.45% + ULA 4%–5.5% over $5.4m; county $1.10/$1,000 | Prop 13: 1% plus bonds, assessed value capped at +2% a year | No route through property; EB-5 is separate | 10 sources |
| 11 Dubai | Freehold in designated areas | DLD fee 4% (2% + 2%, split by agreement) + title-deed fees | No personal income tax; tenancy contracts registered through Ejari | Golden visa from AED 2m of property | 10 sources |
| 12 Singapore | Condominiums open; landed property needs SLA approval (incl. Sentosa Cove) | BSD to 6% + ABSD 60% for foreigners | Property tax 12%–36% of annual value if not owner-occupied | No route through property found | 5 sources |
| 13 Athens Riviera & the Cyclades | Open, but non-EU buyers need approval in designated border areas | Transfer tax 3% (15% announced for non-EU buyers) | ENFIA annual property tax | Golden visa from €250k–€800k by area | 8 sources |
How the dossiers are made
Every rate, threshold and date in a dossier comes from a government, tax-authority, land-registry, statistics-office or notarial page that we read on the date shown, and each dossier lists those pages. Where official sources disagree — as two UAE portals do on the length of the property golden visa — we say so rather than pick one. Where we could not confirm something, we say that too.
We do not publish asking prices, invented market statistics or “expected returns”. The only market figures on these pages are from official statistics offices. See our editorial standards.
Market reading from the Journal
Buying a Private Island: Tenure, Consents and the Real Running Costs
What you actually acquire when you buy an island, which consents sit outside the land title, and why the running costs and the resale market matter more than the asking price.
Monaco Penthouses: What They Cost and How Buying Works
Monaco's own statistics institute puts the average price at about €57,600 per square metre in 2025. What drives the top of the market, what a buyer pays in registration duty, and how residency actually works.
Can Foreigners Own Property in Dubai? Full Guide for 2026
Yes, in designated freehold areas — and three of the numbers that decide the purchase are publicly checkable. The registration fee, the golden visa term that is widely misreported, and the register that publishes your service charge.
Malibu Oceanfront Estates: Permits, Fire Risk and Insurance
Malibu's coastline is finite and tightly regulated. How coastal permits, recorded access easements, wildfire history and the insurance market shape what an oceanfront estate is really worth.
Why Ultra-Prime Real Estate Can Be Riskier in Downturns
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New York Penthouses: Billionaires' Row, Condos, Co-ops and Costs
How the Manhattan penthouse market works, from the supertall towers of Billionaires' Row to Park Avenue co-ops: the ownership types, the transfer taxes, the carrying costs and the extra layer for foreign buyers.
Mayfair, Knightsbridge and Belgravia: How Prime London Property Works
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Buying Prime Property in Singapore: ABSD, Landed Homes and Leases
What a foreign buyer can and cannot buy in Singapore, what stamp duty costs by buyer profile, how the Global Investor Programme fits in, and why most homes are leasehold.
Private Ski Chalets in Courchevel, Aspen and Zermatt: A Buyer's Guide
Three of the best-known ski resorts, three very different rulebooks. What a foreign buyer may own in the French Alps, Colorado and Switzerland, what it costs to hold and sell, and how to test a chalet before buying.