Money · 2 July 2026 · 6 min read
New-build or resale: which suits you?
A large share of foreign money on this coast now goes into new developments, and the agents selling them are paid handsomely to keep it that way. Resale has no marketing department. So here is the comparison neither side gives you straight.
The tax gap is real
Resale: 7% transfer tax (lower reduced rates exist only for some habitual-residence purchases). New-build: 10% VAT plus 1.2% stamp duty, 11.2% total. On €400,000 that is a €16,800 difference before anything else, and it is the single best argument in resale's favour. New-build answers with newness: legal warranties (ten years structural, three for habitability defects, one for finishes), modern insulation and cooling, lifts that work, and no previous owner's decisions to undo.
Time and certainty
Resale gives you keys in six to twelve weeks. Off-plan gives you keys in one to three years, with stage payments along the way and the protections our off-plan guide covers. If your plans involve next summer, the choice makes itself.
Location and character
The uncomfortable truth about new developments: they are built where land was available, which is rarely the town centre or the front line. Resale owns the best positions because it got there first. A 1990s apartment 200 metres from Los Boliches beach against a 2026 development a fifteen-minute drive inland is not a like-for-like comparison, whatever the render suggests. Decide whether you are buying a building or a location, because you rarely maximise both.
Running costs and letting
New communities carry higher fees (pools, gyms, security cost money every year) but lower maintenance surprises. For holiday letting, new stock photographs better and books well, while the best resale locations out-earn on occupancy. Run the specific sums, not the general argument.
Our honest steer
Buyers who want minimum hassle, modern spec and are not in a hurry: new-build earns its premium. Buyers who want position, character, value per metre and keys this year: resale, with a good survey. And anyone being rushed towards either by someone paid on the outcome should read our guide to how commissions work first.
