According to Relocation, Barcelona authorities intend to significantly increase the tax burden on vacation rental owners. On October 15, 2026, the city council tentatively approved the introduction of additional surcharges on the property tax (IBI) ranging from 50% to 150%, depending on the number of short-term rental licenses held by the owner.
The new measure will affect approximately 10,600 vacation rentals and will mark the next phase of the city government’s policy to reduce short-term rentals. Final approval of the tax changes is scheduled for December 2026. If the decision is adopted, the new rules will take effect on January 1, 2027, and the first additional tax will be assessed on December 31, 2027.
The amount of the surcharge will depend on the number of tourist licenses held by the owner. Owners of a single license will be required to pay 50% more than the current IBI tax. Owners of two or three licenses will face a 100% surcharge, while owners of four or more tourist properties will face a 150% surcharge.
Thus, if the standard annual tax on an apartment is 1,000 euros, after the new rules take effect, an owner with one tourist license will pay 1,500 euros, an owner with two or three licenses will pay 2,000 euros, and an owner with four or more licenses will pay 2,500 euros per year for the respective property.
According to city data, approximately 6,000 tourist apartments—or about 57% of the total—are owned by individuals with four or more licenses. Another 1,200 properties are owned by individuals with two or three licenses, and approximately 3,200 by those with a single license.
City officials expect to generate an additional 7–8 million euros annually through this increased taxation.
Jordi Valls, Barcelona’s deputy mayor for economic affairs, explained the need for the changes by noting that vacation rentals are effectively used for commercial purposes, so their taxation should not be subject to the same conditions as regular residential housing.
The new tax policy is being implemented against the backdrop of a previously adopted decision to gradually phase out short-term apartment rentals in Barcelona. The municipality intends not to renew existing tourist accommodation licenses after they expire in November 2028.
For real estate investors in Barcelona, the new rules mean a reduction in the potential profitability of tourist rentals. The additional costs will particularly affect professional operators who manage multiple apartments. At the same time, the prospect of tourist licenses expiring in 2028 creates additional risks for long-term investment plans.
Owners will have to consider alternative models for using their properties, including long-term rentals, medium-term leases—provided they meet the established requirements—or the sale of the properties.
At the same time, industry representatives are opposing the new restrictions. Apartur, the Barcelona Tourist Apartments Association, has called the tax increase disproportionate and said it creates legal uncertainty for businesses. The organization has stated its readiness to challenge the new rules in court once they are finally adopted.
Barcelona remains one of the largest tourist destinations in Spain and Europe. The massive growth of short-term rentals in recent years has become a source of controversy among property owners, representatives of the tourism industry, and local residents.
According to The Serbian Economist, Montenegro continues to revise its immigration rules as part of its alignment with EU legislation. The government is simultaneously tightening requirements for foreigners obtaining residence permits through real estate and business, but is maintaining a separate mechanism for digital nomads—those who work remotely for foreign companies.
Under current and previously approved changes, a minimum property value of 200,000 euros is being introduced as a requirement for obtaining a temporary residence permit through real estate. Foreigners who already hold a residence permit on this basis will have one year to bring their status into compliance with the new requirements.
For foreigners obtaining a residence permit through their own company, the rules are also becoming stricter. A foreign CEO or owner of more than 51% of the company’s capital must have at least three employees, two of whom must be Montenegrin citizens working full-time.
At the same time, the authorities are not abandoning a separate program for digital nomads. A foreigner who works online for a foreign company or their own company registered outside Montenegro can still apply for a temporary residence permit. To do so, they must provide proof of income, housing, health insurance, and a valid reason for remote work.
This is an important compromise for the country: Montenegro aims to bring its immigration system into line with EU standards while remaining attractive to IT professionals, consultants, entrepreneurs, and other remote workers.
Separately, starting November 1, 2026, Montenegro will introduce a visa requirement for citizens of Russia, Turkey, Belarus, China, and Saudi Arabia. The government explicitly explains this as necessary to fully align its visa policy with the European Union under Negotiation Chapter 24.
Therefore, it can be assumed that maintaining a favorable regime for digital nomads and qualified foreign professionals is intended, in part, to mitigate a potential outflow of Russians and Turks that could occur following the abolition of visa-free entry and the tightening of rules for obtaining residence permits.
The scale of the foreign presence is already very large for a small country like Montenegro. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior as of September 2026, nearly 70,000 foreigners held residence permits.
The largest groups are:
Russia — 17,900 people
Serbia — 15,300
Turkey—10,600
Bosnia and Herzegovina—3,800
Kosovo—3,100
Albania—3,100
Azerbaijan—2,600
Ukraine—1,600
North Macedonia—1,200
Germany — 1,100
Thus, Russians, Serbs, and Turks alone account for about 63% of all foreigners with residence permits in Montenegro. That is why any changes to visa and immigration policies have a particularly significant impact on the real estate market, the rental market, small businesses, and the service sector.
digital nomad, MIGRATION, MONTENEGRO, REAL ESTATE, RESIDENCE PERMIT
International capital has become noticeably more active in Germany’s residential real estate market: in the third quarter of 2026, foreign buyers accounted for about 75% of investment volume in this segment, according to data from the international consulting firm CBRE.
The volume of residential real estate transactions in Germany from July through September totaled approximately €2.3 billion, marking the best quarterly result since the beginning of the year. Compared to the second quarter, investment volume increased by approximately 17%.
Overall, from January through September 2026, investment in German residential real estate approached 5.9 billion euros, which is approximately 4% less than during the same period last year.
However, CBRE does not disclose the geographic breakdown of foreign investors nor specify which countries’ capital accounted for the bulk of these investments. Therefore, the 75% figure should be viewed as the share of total foreign institutional capital, rather than as an indicator of investments by citizens of any specific country.
This primarily refers to professional investors—investment funds, management companies, family offices, and other large capital holders—who purchase residential portfolios and multi-unit properties. These figures do not reflect the activity of private foreign investors who purchase individual apartments or houses in Germany.
Large portfolio transactions played a key role in the market’s recovery. Portfolio transactions accounted for approximately 75% of total investment volume in the third quarter, with just a few large transactions accounting for more than half of the quarterly turnover.
Existing residential buildings and completed new-construction projects remain the primary focus of interest—they accounted for about 89% of transactions. Investments in projects in the early stages of construction, including forward purchases and forward funding, remain significantly weaker.
CBRE attributes this to a decline in the supply of new multifamily projects. High construction and financing costs, as well as risks for developers, are limiting the launch of new projects.
The most active investors were those focused on higher returns and future appreciation of property values. Value-add and opportunistic strategies accounted for about 58% of quarterly investment volume, while the more conservative core and core-plus strategies accounted for about 42%.
At the same time, the number of transactions fell to 44 from 51 in the second quarter. Thus, the increase in turnover is attributable not to a rise in the number of purchases, but primarily to a larger average transaction size.
Residential real estate remains the largest segment of the German investment market: in the first nine months of the year, it accounted for about 25% of total real estate investment in Germany.
As before, international capital continues to focus on the country’s seven largest markets—Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Stuttgart. At the same time, CBRE notes growing interest in regional markets, where investors expect to find a more attractive risk-return ratio.
The average peak yield for apartment buildings in the largest cities rose by 0.2 percentage points in the third quarter—to 3.59%—making entry prices more attractive to some investors.
Source: CBRE Germany — Residential Investment Market Q3 2026
foreign investor, GERMANY, HOUSING, INVESTMENTS, REAL ESTATE
The Bulgarian real estate market continued to cool sharply: in the third quarter of 2026, 45,312 transactions were registered in the country, marking the lowest figure since at least 2005, the earliest year for which comparable data from the Bulgarian Registry Agency is available.
Compared to July–September 2025, when 58,184 transactions were recorded, market volume contracted by 22.1%. For the first time since 2010, the number of transactions in the third quarter fell below 50,000.
The decline affected nearly the entire country. An increase in the number of transactions was recorded in only six of the 113 cities included in the statistics. Among them were Blagoevgrad, where sales rose by 19.8%, and Gotse Delchev, with an 11.2% increase.
In Sofia, 7,282 transactions were recorded in the third quarter, 21.2% fewer than a year earlier. In the Burgas region, the figure fell by 14.3% to 2,047 transactions. Both markets have effectively returned to 2023 levels.
In the Plovdiv region, the number of transactions fell by 23.9% to 3,356, the lowest level since 2013. In Varna, the decline was 26.3%, and the number of transactions fell below 3,000 for the first time since 2015.
An even sharper decline was observed in a number of resort and regional markets. In Nessebar, which also includes transactions in Sunny Beach, the number of transactions fell by 37%. In Razlog, which includes the Bansko market, the decline was 30.4%; in Smolyan, 30.7%; and in Chepelare, nearly 40%.
From January through September 2026, 129,431 transactions were recorded in Bulgaria, which is nearly 19% fewer than a year earlier. By comparison, 159,338 transactions were completed during the same period in 2025, 152,316 in 2024, and 153,109 in 2023.
However, the decline in the number of transactions has not yet been accompanied by a drop in prices. According to data from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, in the second quarter of 2026, housing prices rose by 15.5% year-over-year and by 4.5% compared to the first quarter. Bulgaria ranked second in the EU in terms of the annual growth rate of housing prices.
Consequently, an unusual situation is unfolding in the market: the number of transactions is falling sharply, but prices continue to rise. This may indicate a decrease in the supply of high-quality properties, a high proportion of cash buyers, and price inertia following the strong growth of recent years.
Official source: Bulgarian Registry Agency – Property Registry Statistics.
Nearly four out of ten apartments in London that were resold within 12 months as of August 2026, after five to ten years of ownership, were sold for less than their original purchase price. This is according to an analysis by e.surv Chartered Surveyors.
The share of loss-making apartment resales in the British capital reached 39.5%, the highest rate among regions in the United Kingdom. By comparison, among homes owned for the same period, the share of sales below the original purchase price was less than 4%.
In Southeast and East England, approximately one-third of apartments that owners had held for five to ten years were also sold for less than their purchase price. In central and northern England, such transactions accounted for about 20%, while the UK-wide average was slightly more than a quarter. In Scotland, the figure remained below 10%.
According to e.surv’s assessment, price trends for apartments and single-family homes began to diverge noticeably around 2017. Among the factors holding back apartment prices, analysts cite leasehold issues, high service charges, safety concerns regarding buildings, the cost of replacing cladding following the cladding crisis, and rising mortgage costs.
Additional pressure is coming from the general weakening of the London real estate market. According to the e.surv index, the average housing price in the United Kingdom in September 2026 was approximately £328,900, which is 1.5% higher than a year ago. However, London was the only major region to see a year-over-year decline in prices—by approximately 2.3%, to 594,200 pounds
A separate analysis by ValuQ also shows an increase in the number of loss-making transactions in England and Wales. In the first half of 2026, 16.3% of residential properties resold less than five years after purchase were sold for less than their original price. Among apartments, this figure reached 29.5%. The total difference between the purchase price and the resale price of such properties was estimated at approximately £210 million.
It is important to note that this is strictly a nominal comparison of purchase and sale prices. The calculation does not include stamp duty, mortgage interest, real estate agent commissions, renovation costs, maintenance fees, or other owner expenses. Therefore, the actual financial outcome for some sellers may be even worse.
Experts attribute the weak performance of the apartment market primarily to the fact that buyers are increasingly carefully evaluating the ongoing maintenance costs of apartment buildings and potential legal and technical risks. At the same time, demand for single-family homes and townhouses remains relatively more stable.
The Bulgarian real estate market continued to cool sharply: in the third quarter of 2026, 45,312 transactions were registered in the country, marking the lowest figure since at least 2005, according to comparable data from the Bulgarian Registry Agency.
Compared to July–September 2025, when 58,184 transactions were recorded, market volume shrank by 22.1%. For the first time since 2010, the number of transactions in the third quarter fell below 50,000.
The decline affected nearly the entire country. An increase in the number of transactions was recorded in only six of the 113 cities included in the statistics. Among them were Blagoevgrad, where sales rose by 19.8%, and Gotse Delchev, with an increase of 11.2%.
In Sofia, 7,282 transactions were recorded in the third quarter, which is 21.2% less than a year earlier. In the Burgas region, the figure fell by 14.3% to 2,047 transactions. Both markets have effectively returned to 2023 levels.
An even sharper decline was recorded in a number of resort and regional markets. In Nessebar, which also includes transactions in Sunny Beach, the number of transactions fell by 37%. In Razlog, which includes the Bansko market, the decline was 30.4%; in Smolyan, 30.7%; and in Chepelare, nearly 40%.
From January through September 2026, 129,431 transactions were registered in Bulgaria, which is nearly 19% fewer than a year earlier. By comparison, 159,338 transactions were concluded during the same period in 2025, 152,316 in 2024, and 153,109 in 2023.
However, the decline in the number of transactions has not yet been accompanied by a drop in prices. According to data from the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, in the second quarter of 2026, housing prices rose by 15.5% year-over-year and by 4.5% compared to the first quarter. Bulgaria ranked second in the EU in terms of the annual growth rate of housing prices. Consequently, an unusual situation is unfolding in the market: the number of transactions is falling sharply, but prices continue to rise. This may indicate a reduction in the supply of high-quality properties, a high proportion of cash buyers, as well as price inertia following significant growth in recent years.
