Apartment purchase costs

For a cash purchase of a resale apartment expect about 3% of the price: 2.5% transfer tax, 300 to 500 euros for the notary and about 70 euros for the cadastre. With an agency add another 2% (plus VAT if the agency is VAT-registered). With a mortgage come the NKOSK premium of 1.5% to 3.5% of the loan, mortgage registration, the pledge statement, the appraisal and insurance, so the total reaches 5% to 8% of the price.

By law the seller is the taxpayer. In practice the sale contract almost always shifts the tax to the buyer, who is then liable as a joint guarantor. The rate is 2.5% of the contract price; if the local tax administration finds the price below market value, it may set the market value as the base within 60 days. The return is filed within 30 days of certification.

10% VAT applies only to the first transfer of an apartment by a VAT-registered developer, and as a rule it is already inside the advertised price. Every other sale, including a new apartment resold by its first owner, carries 2.5% transfer tax. The two are never paid together. That is why the calculator first asks who is selling a new build.

An adult Serbian citizen residing in Serbia who has not owned an apartment or house since 1 July 2006. The relief covers 40 m² for the buyer and 15 m² for each household member who has not owned a home either; the excess area is taxed. For a resale it is a transfer-tax exemption, for a new build a VAT refund, provided the price was paid cashless. The right can be used once.

The reward is set in points by contract value; a point is 180 dinars since 12 July 2025, and 20% VAT is added. Certifying a sale contract costs 60% of the reward: for a 100,000-euro apartment about 36,000 dinars, plus material costs. The mortgage pledge statement and a pre-contract each cost 50% of the reward.

The National Mortgage Insurance Corporation insures the loan in favour of the bank, and the buyer pays the premium once: 1.5% of the loan with a down payment of 30% or more, 2.5% between 20% and 30%, and 3.5% below that, plus 0.25 percentage points without life insurance. Loans under the state youth programme carry no NKOSK insurance.

The state administrative fee for registering ownership is about 7,000 dinars per document, a folio extract about 700 dinars, and mortgage registration from 29,390 to 220,390 dinars depending on the loan amount. The notary files the contract with the cadastre electronically ex officio, so no separate request fee is charged.

Statutory tariffs (notary, tax, cadastre) follow the regulations in force. Bank costs are typical 2026 values that differ between banks, so you can override them under more options. Lines marked as estimates await confirmation of the amount in the primary source. None of this is legal or financial advice.