In short
The acquisition tax is 2.55% of the value in Ensenada (Baja California) at MX$3 million. Appraisal values in Baja California changed by +8.9% over a year (SHF index, second quarter of 2026). The average fixed-rate mortgage offer was 11.29% in September 2026 (Banco de México).
Ensenada taxes a purchase on a marginal table, so the burden grows faster than the price. A MX$1 million home carries MX$17,500; at MX$3 million the bill is MX$76,500, and at MX$8 million it is MX$293,500. Read as a share of the price, that is 1.75% rising to 2.55% and then 3.67%. The base is whichever is greatest among the updated price, the cadastral value and a commercial appraisal, and a public security surcharge of 0.25% goes on top. Payotte's figures leave out the annual-UMA deduction found in the state law, since Ensenada's law neither applies nor expressly excludes it.
That puts Ensenada 30th when the 54 computed areas run from lightest to heaviest, above the national middle value of MX$75,000: 23 areas charge more, 29 charge less. Torreón sits just below at MX$75,000 and Playas de Rosarito just above at MX$76,500. Elsewhere in Baja California, Mexicali comes to MX$67,000 and Tijuana to MX$69,080. With the state registry charge of MX$12,794, the total reaches MX$89,294, or 2.98%. That registry charge is flat across MX$1 million, MX$3 million and MX$8 million, and the MX$3 million tax alone is the equivalent of 652 daily UMA at MX$117.31.
Mortgaged homes in the state were valued at MX$1,587,201 at the median in the first part of 2026, 5th of 32 and beyond the national MX$1,299,580. Quartiles are MX$1,221,836 and MX$2,614,000, and the mean is MX$2,320,797. The SHF index added 8.9% over twelve months, 7th of 32, while Mexico added 7.3%. Individual buyers signed 19,364 mortgages in 2025 at MX$1,117,012 on average, while renters hold 22.6% of homes, the 4th highest share.
Data as of 15 October 2026: SHF appraisals of January to June 2026, SNIIV loans of 2025, INEGI ENIGH 2024, 2026 tax laws.
Calculate for Ensenada
The questions, answered
How much tax and recording fee on a MX$3 million home in Ensenada?
On a MX$3 million home in Ensenada (Baja California), taxed on the highest of the updated price, the cadastral value and a commercial appraisal, the buyer pays property acquisition tax (ISAI) MX$69,000, public security surcharge (0.25% of the base) MX$7,500, recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad MX$12,794: MX$89,294 in all under the 2026 laws read by Payotte, before notary fees.
How much tax and recording fee on a MX$8 million home in Ensenada?
On a MX$8 million home in Ensenada (Baja California): property acquisition tax (ISAI) MX$273,500, public security surcharge (0.25% of the base) MX$20,000, recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad MX$12,794, MX$306,294 in all, before notary fees.
What monthly payment on a MX$3 million home in Ensenada?
MX$2,400,000 borrowed (20% down) costs MX$25,248 a month over 20 years at 11.29% (Banco de México, September 2026); average CAT 13.76%.
How much tax when you sell a home in Ensenada?
Federal rules apply in Ensenada as in every state: a seller who is not a Mexican tax resident pays by default 25% of the gross price (LISR art. 160), MX$750,000 on a MX$3 million sale, paid by the notary; a resident selling their own home is exempt up to 700,000 UDIS, about MX$6,220,414 at 5 November 2026 (art. 93-XIX-a).
How Ensenada compares
At MX$76,500 on a MX$3 million home (2.55% of the price), Ensenada sits near the middle of the 54 municipios computed, whose median is MX$75,000: 29 charge less, 23 more, 1 exactly the same.
The tax follows a marginal table (limits in pesos): MX$17,500 on MX$1 million, MX$76,500 on MX$3 million and MX$293,500 on MX$8 million. The effective rate climbs from 1.75% to 3.67% between the first and the last price. In Ensenada, a 0.25% charge on the base (Public security surcharge) is added.
Inside Baja California, the nearest computed neighbours on a MX$3 million home are Playas de Rosarito MX$76,500 (same), Tijuana MX$69,080 (MX$7,420 less) and Mexicali MX$67,000 (MX$9,500 less). The MX$12,794 recording fee comes from the state's own law, so it is identical in each of them and the gap is the municipal tax alone.
Tax and recording fee together take 2.98% of a MX$3 million price, MX$89,294, which is 3.5 monthly payments of MX$25,248 and 14.9% on top of the MX$600,000 down payment. On a home at the state median appraisal of MX$1,587,201 the same rules give MX$44,974, 2.83% of the price.
Ranked from the lightest to the heaviest of the 54 areas, Ensenada is 30th: just below it in the national ranking is Torreón (Coahuila) at MX$75,000 and just above it is Playas de Rosarito at MX$76,500. The lightest, Guanajuato, takes MX$24,144 on the same MX$3 million, so a buyer in Ensenada pays MX$52,356 more; the heaviest, Querétaro, takes MX$170,306, MX$93,806 more than Ensenada.
Beyond the three prices of this page, tax and fee reach MX$57,294 on MX$2 million, MX$165,294 on MX$5 million and MX$530,294 on MX$12 million. Between MX$3 million and MX$8 million, each extra peso of price carries 4.34 centavos of acquisition tax, more than the 2.55% average at MX$3 million. In the daily unit of account (UMA, MX$117 in 2026) the MX$3 million tax is 652 UMA and the recording fee 109.
| Measure | Value | Reference | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensenada: Acquisition tax on MX$1 million | MX$17,500 | median MX$21,588 | 10th of 54 lightest |
| Ensenada: Acquisition tax on MX$3 million | MX$76,500 | median MX$75,000 | 30th of 54 lightest |
| Ensenada: Acquisition tax on MX$8 million | MX$293,500 | median MX$232,239 | 43rd of 54 lightest |
| Ensenada: Effective rate at MX$3 million | 2.55% | median 2.5% | 30th of 54 lightest |
| Ensenada: Effective rate at MX$1 and 8 million | 1.75% and 3.67% | gap 1.92 points | rising |
| Ensenada: Tax on MX$3 million in UMA | 652 UMA | MX$117 per UMA | 21.5 monthly UMA |
| Ensenada: Recording fee on MX$3 million | MX$12,794 | 0.43% of the price | 16.7% of the tax |
| Ensenada: Tax and fee on MX$3 million | MX$89,294 | 2.98% of the price | 31st of 54 lightest |
| Ensenada: Tax and fee on MX$12 million | MX$530,294 | 4.42% of the price | 5.9 times the MX$3 million bill |
Appraisal values, home loans and renting for the whole of Baja California are on its state page.
The figures
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Property acquisition tax (ISAI) on MX$3 million | MX$69,000 | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Ensenada 2026, art. 4 (P.O. 30 Dec. 2025) |
| Public security surcharge (0.25% of the base) on MX$3 million | MX$7,500 | Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Ensenada 2026, art. 4 (P.O. 30 Dec. 2025) |
| Recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad on MX$3 million | MX$12,794 | Ley de Ingresos del Estado de Baja California 2026, art. 12-I and III (last reform P.O. 35, 18 June 2026) |
| Average fixed-rate mortgage offer (Sep. 2026) | 11.29% | Banco de México, CF303 |
The SHF publishes home prices in pesos by state only; for a municipality it publishes an index, not a price. The appraisal values, loans and renting of Baja California are on its state page.
Elsewhere in Baja California
Sources
- Acquisition tax: Ley de Ingresos del Municipio de Ensenada 2026, art. 4 (P.O. 30 Dec. 2025); the calculator.
- Recording fee: Ley de Ingresos del Estado de Baja California 2026, art. 12-I and III (last reform P.O. 35, 18 June 2026).
- Prices: Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, Índice SHF de Precios de la Vivienda en México, second quarter of 2026 (press release 05/2026, 10 August 2026), consulted 2026-10-15 (data).
- Loans: SEDATU, Sistema Nacional de Información e Indicadores de Vivienda (SNIIV), open data « Financiamientos » 2025; Banco de México, SIE, Tasas de Interés de Crédito a los Hogares (CF303), Indicador del Costo de Créditos Hipotecarios, September 2026.