Escaldes-Engordany property market: prices, rents and the rules for foreign buyers

Apartments in Escaldes-Engordany were advertised at an average of €8,870.2/m² in Q3 2026 according to CASAFARI Area Insights (location id 2339, asking prices from indexed listings), up 24.7% on Q3 2025 and 73.4% since Q1 2023, making it the most expensive of Andorra's seven parishes. These are asking prices: the official national transacted price of apartments was €4,569.7/m² in Q2 2026 (Departament d'Estadística) as sales volumes fell 11.8% year on year. With asking rents around €26.2/m²/month, the indicative gross yield sits at roughly 3.5%.

Average asking prices from CASAFARI Area Insights for Escaldes - Engordany (location id 2339), updated weekly, not transaction prices.

On any Saturday morning along the pedestrianised Avinguda Carlemany, you will notice couples from Barcelona or Toulouse pausing outside the estate agencies near the Caldea thermal spa. In the window, a three-bedroom apartment in a new tower is advertised well past the million-euro mark. Yet if those same visitors speak to a local notary or a family-office adviser on Monday morning, they hear a very different figure: across the country, actual deeds for apartments are closing at roughly half the parish's advertised price per square metre.

Understanding Escaldes-Engordany in 2026 means holding those two sets of numbers in mind at the same time—and factoring in a foreign-buyer tax that doubled in February 2026.

Where is Escaldes-Engordany and why is it Andorra's most expensive parish?

To the eye, Escaldes-Engordany and the capital, Andorra la Vella, are a single town. The parish occupies a narrow one-to-two-kilometre strip of valley floor where the Valira d'Orient and Valira del Nord rivers meet, and most visitors crossing the street between the two parishes have no idea they have changed jurisdiction.

Within ten minutes on foot sit the thermal waters of Caldea, the shops of Avinguda Carlemany, private clinics, banks and international schools. Immediately above the valley floor rises the south-facing hillside of Els Vilars d'Escaldes, which commands unobstructed sun and views across the basin, while the road climbs further east towards Lake Engolasters.

According to the Departament d'Estadística, as reported by Diari d'Andorra, Escaldes-Engordany reached 16,350 residents at the end of July 2026, adding 347 people (+2.2%) in twelve months as Andorra's total population passed 90,021 (+1.9%). The statistical office's 2025 household survey (A013) counted 6,986 households in the parish, up 10.8% compared with 2021, making it the second-largest parish in the Principality after Andorra la Vella.

Because the valley walls are steep, almost no flat land remains to be zoned. New supply comes either from demolishing and rebuilding on the valley floor or from low-density hillside plots in Els Vilars and Engolasters. Even so, the parish concentrates the active market: an AGIA semi-annual market analysis for H1 2026 found that Escaldes-Engordany held 25.7% of all homes advertised for sale in Andorra, the largest share of any parish.

How much do apartments cost in Escaldes-Engordany in 2026?

In Q3 2026, the average asking price for an apartment in Escaldes-Engordany stood at €8,870.2/m², according to CASAFARI Area Insights (location id 2339, calculated from active listings with outliers excluded). That is 24.7% higher than the €7,113.7/m² recorded in Q3 2025, and 73.4% above the €5,115.9/m² level of Q1 2023.

The upward trajectory has been remarkably steady. Across fifteen quarters from early 2023 to Q3 2026, only a single quarter—Q4 2024—registered a slight dip. From mid-2025 onwards the pace quickened, taking the parish average from roughly €7,100/m² to €8,870/m² in the space of four quarters.

Local portal statistics point in the same direction. The Pisos.ad Q3 2026 report covered by Bondia put average asking prices in Escaldes-Engordany at €9,814/m² against a national portal average of €8,143/m², also ranking the parish first among the seven parishes despite using a single-portal methodology without multi-agency deduplication.

One statistical caveat belongs next to any chart of this parish: in a community of 16,350 people with a few dozen active listings per quarter, the mix of stock matters. When several prime penthouses in the new valley-floor towers or large hillside apartments in Els Vilars come onto the market at the same time, they pull the quarterly asking average noticeably higher.

What do buyers actually pay? Asking prices against official transaction data

When we turn from agency windows to notarial deeds, the temperature drops. According to the Departament d'Estadística (report A117, as covered by Diari d'Andorra), Andorra recorded 473 residential real-estate transactions in Q2 2026, a fall of 11.8% compared with Q2 2025 and the third consecutive quarterly decline. The total number of properties transferred (1,090, which includes parking spaces, storage rooms and land) fell by 35% over the same period.

More striking still is the price per square metre written into those deeds. The statistical office's housing price series (A145, reported by Bondia) puts the national average transacted price of apartments in Q2 2026 at €4,569.7/m², compared with €4,559.9/m² in Q2 2025—a change of just +0.2% in a year.

The two figures—€8,870.2/m² asked in Escaldes-Engordany in Q3 2026 versus €4,569.7/m² transacted across Andorra in Q2 2026—are not a like-for-like discount. The official deed figure is a national average across all seven parishes (Andorra does not publish parish-level transaction prices for reasons of statistical secrecy), and it includes older second-hand stock in less expensive parishes as well as off-plan sales completing at prices agreed two or three years ago. Even with that allowance, the distance between what sellers ask in the prime parish and what buyers sign for across the country shows a market in a stand-off.

For a buyer or a family-office adviser, the practical rule is straightforward: never negotiate as a percentage off the window price. Build the offer from the ground up using recent comparable listings, historical price changes on the specific building, and time on market. You can price a specific apartment with Comparables and a market study to see where similar units in the same micro-location have actually been positioned and adjusted.

What are rents and yields like?

While asking prices for sales have climbed, the rental curve has hit a ceiling. CASAFARI Area Insights (location id 2339) shows average asking rents for apartments in Escaldes-Engordany at €26.2/m²/month in Q3 2026. That is 3.0% lower than the €27.0/m²/month recorded in Q3 2025, though still 23.6% above the €21.2/m²/month of Q1 2024. Since the beginning of 2025, asking rents have moved sideways in a narrow band between €26 and €27/m²/month.

The reason newcomers often end up buying rather than renting is sheer scarcity of stock. According to the Pisos.ad Q3 2026 report, only 87 apartments were advertised to rent across the entire country during the quarter, with an average monthly asking rent in Escaldes-Engordany of €3,215/month. Well-paid executives and relocating families who cannot find a suitable lease are quickly channelled into the sales market.

Because sale asking prices rose by nearly a quarter over the past year while asking rents softened slightly, yields have compressed. Combining the Q3 2026 asking rent (€26.2/m²/month, or €314.4/m²/year) with the Q3 2026 asking sale price (€8,870.2/m²) gives an indicative gross rental yield of 3.5%, down from 4.6% in Q3 2025 and 4.7% in Q1 2025. Both inputs are asking figures before purchase taxes, community charges or maintenance.

Nor can an investor boost returns by switching a newly bought flat to short-term holiday lets. Under article 62 of Llei 5/2025 of 6 March, on sustainable growth and the right to housing, new tourist-use housing licences (HUT) for apartments and studios are suspended indefinitely, according to the Govern d'Andorra's Ministeri de Turisme i Comerç.

Can foreigners buy in Escaldes-Engordany, and what does it cost in tax?

Foreign nationals and non-residents can buy residential property in Escaldes-Engordany, provided they obtain prior foreign-investment authorisation from the Govern d'Andorra and pay the corresponding taxes.

Under Llei 3/2024 of 1 February on the foreign real-estate investment tax, the regime applies to non-resident individuals and companies, to Andorran companies with 50% or more foreign capital, and to residents of Andorra who have held uninterrupted residence for fewer than three years (counted from their immigration permit). Once a resident has completed three years of uninterrupted residence, subsequent property purchases for their own account no longer fall under the foreign-investor tax.

On 13 February 2026, Llei 2/2026 of 22 January on the Official Legal Portal doubled the tax rates on foreign real-estate investment. A foreign investor now pays 6% of the real value of the property on a first home (including up to two storage rooms and two parking spaces) and 10% from the second property onwards. Llei 3/2024 provides a tax rebate mechanism if the property is rented out as a permanent main residence for at least ten years.

On top of the foreign-investment levy, every buyer—resident or non-resident—pays the standard property transfer tax (Impost sobre les Transmissions Patrimonials Immobiliàries, or ITP). As set out on the Govern d'Andorra ITP information page, the total ITP rate is 4% of the declared value: 1% goes to the State and 3% to the parish council (the Comú d'Escaldes-Engordany, in line with all seven parishes).

Buyer profile	Property transfer tax (ITP)	Foreign real-estate investment tax (since 13 Feb 2026)	Combined purchase tax on a €1,000,000 apartment (excl. notary)
Andorran national or resident with 3+ years of residence	4% (1% State + 3% Comú)	0%	€40,000
Non-resident or resident (<3 years), first property	4% (1% State + 3% Comú)	6% (Llei 2/2026)	€100,000
Non-resident or resident (<3 years), second property	4% (1% State + 3% Comú)	10% (Llei 2/2026)	€140,000

In plain numbers, a non-resident buying a first apartment in Escaldes-Engordany for €1,000,000 faces €40,000 in ITP plus €60,000 in foreign-investment tax—€100,000 in transfer and investment taxes before notary and registration fees. Buyers planning to apply for passive (non-lucrative) residence alongside their purchase should verify the current minimum investment threshold directly with the Servei d'Immigració, as Llei 2/2026 tightened the immigration rules and parliament continues to debate foreign-investment limits (a proposal for a full suspension of new authorisations was rejected by 18 votes to 6 in the Consell General in January 2026).

Who is buying, and what are the risks?

Despite the international spotlight, domestic buyers still account for most transactions. Nationwide in Q2 2026, residents made 77.4% of all property purchases by individuals, while non-residents accounted for 22.6%—buying 184 properties, down 14.5% year on year, according to the Departament d'Estadística (A117, reported by Bondia). Among foreign buyers, Spanish nationals remain the largest group, accompanied by French buyers and a growing share of northern European and international families.

In Escaldes-Engordany, those buyers typically fall into three groups:

• Relocating families and executives acquiring a primary residence within walking distance of Andorra la Vella's financial and legal services.
• Pied-à-terre buyers looking for a modern, lock-up-and-leave apartment near Caldea and Avinguda Carlemany.
• High-net-worth households targeting large apartments or detached houses on the hillside of Els Vilars d'Escaldes.

Advisers and family offices exploring how investors use CASAFARI data across southern Europe—or comparing Andorra with property market trends across CASAFARI's markets in Spain, France and Portugal—should weigh five specific risks before committing capital:

1. The asking-to-closing gap: With parish asking prices at €8,870.2/m² (Q3 2026) and national deed prices at €4,569.7/m² (Q2 2026), overpaying on an unverified asking price is the single largest hazard.
2. Falling liquidity: National transaction volumes dropped 11.8% year on year in Q2 2026, the third quarterly drop in a row, meaning longer resale times if you need to exit.
3. Yield compression: An indicative gross yield of 3.5% (before a 10% combined tax load for a first-time foreign buyer) leaves almost no margin for a pure buy-to-let strategy.
4. Regulatory tightening: The doubling of the foreign-investment tax in February 2026 and the indefinite suspension of new HUT tourist licences show a clear political will to cool housing prices.
5. Small-sample volatility: In a compact parish, a handful of luxury hillside listings can skew quarterly averages.

Because Escaldes-Engordany holds a quarter of the country's advertised stock across dozens of local agencies that often list the same apartment at slightly different prices, buyers and their advisers can use Property Sourcing, one search across every portal and agency, to view clean, deduplicated inventory and full listing histories.

How to track Escaldes-Engordany prices yourself

Every parish-level price and rent series in this guide comes from CASAFARI Area Insights, where Escaldes-Engordany is tracked under location id 2339 (resolved via Location Lookup as Escaldes - Engordany). The series updates weekly from aggregated, deduplicated listings and lets you filter by property type, bedrooms and price distribution.

If you are building an internal valuation model or a market dashboard, you can query the same time series programmatically via the Area Insights API documentation and pull property-level valuations through the Comparables and valuation API documentation. You can create a CASAFARI account and API key directly on the self-serve platform; API and MCP calls are metered in tokens. Analysts who prefer working inside an AI assistant can also connect Casafari MCP for querying the same data from an AI assistant.

Escaldes-Engordany remains the prime residential address in the Pyrenees for those who intend to live in the Principality and value walkability, sun and security over rental yield. To inspect the current quarter's price distributions, time on market and active stock before making an offer, open CASAFARI Area Insights and explore location 2339 first-hand.