In short
The acquisition tax is 5.18% of the value in Mexico City at MX$3 million. Appraisal values in Mexico City changed by +3.4% over a year (SHF index, second quarter of 2026). The average fixed-rate mortgage offer was 11.29% in September 2026 (Banco de México).
Mexico City stands apart on nearly every measure on this page. Its SHF median valuation for mortgaged homes, taken over the first semester of 2026, is MX$3,301,516, the highest of the 32 entities, against MX$1,299,580 nationally. The mean reaches MX$4,285,135, with quartile marks at MX$2,263,012 and MX$5,203,073. Yet the index moved only 3.4% across the year, 32 of 32, behind the 7.3% for Mexico.
The acquisition tax (ISAI) is set by the city for all of its 16 boroughs (alcaldías), using a marginal table applied to the highest of the acquisition value, the cadastral value and an appraisal. The effective rate starts at 4.35% when the price is MX$1 million, rises to 5.18% at MX$3 million and ends at 5.88% for MX$8 million, which translates into MX$43,521, MX$155,322 and MX$470,014. The middle amount is 1,324 UMA, each worth MX$117.31 a day.
Among the 54 computed areas it is the 53rd lightest: 52 charge less and only 1 charges more. Querétaro, the next heavier name, owes MX$170,306, while Valladolid, in Yucatán, the next lighter, owes MX$120,000. The national median for MX$3 million is MX$75,000, well below the city's MX$155,322.
Registry costs add MX$25,098 per recording, with a lower fee below the value of social housing, a threshold that is not established. Together the tax and the fee come to MX$180,420 for the MX$3 million case, 6.01% of what is paid.
Credit is modest: 17,002 mortgages reached individuals in 2025, averaging MX$2,565,672, or 1.8 for each 1,000 inhabitants where the median state sits at 3.8. Renting accounts for 22.2% of homes, 5th highest. The city has 9,209,944 inhabitants and leaves real estate agents without a local licensing rule.
Seen together, the figures describe a city where the purchase tax and the price level are both the highest in the sample, yet price growth is the weakest. The tax alone for MX$3 million is MX$155,322, while the national median for the same price is MX$75,000, and the daily UMA of MX$117.31 is the same everywhere. Mexico City is a federal entity, so there are no municipalities to compare inside it: one law, one table, applied across all 16 boroughs. The tax law is the Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, last reformed in the Gaceta Oficial in December 2025, and the recording amount was reformed in the same issue.
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 Mexico City
The questions, answered
How much tax and recording fee on a MX$3 million home in Mexico City?
On a MX$3 million home in Mexico City, taxed on the highest of the acquisition value, the cadastral value and an appraisal, the buyer pays property acquisition tax (ISAI) MX$155,322, recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad MX$25,098: MX$180,420 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 Mexico City?
On a MX$8 million home in Mexico City: property acquisition tax (ISAI) MX$470,014, recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad MX$25,098, MX$495,112 in all, before notary fees.
Are home prices rising in Mexico City?
The SHF price index for Mexico City changed by +3.4% between the second quarters of 2025 and 2026, against +7.3% for Mexico; it measures appraisal values of homes bought with a mortgage (Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal).
What does a home cost in Mexico City?
From January to June 2026, homes bought with a mortgage in Mexico City were appraised at a median of MX$3,301,516 and a mean of MX$4,285,135; half of them were appraised between MX$2,263,012 and MX$5,203,073 (SHF). These are appraisal values, not sale prices.
What monthly payment on a MX$3 million home in Mexico City?
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 Mexico City?
Federal rules apply in Mexico City 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$6,218,823 at 4 November 2026 (art. 93-XIX-a).
How Mexico City compares
On a MX$3 million home the acquisition tax of Mexico City is MX$155,322 (5.18%), 107.1% above the MX$75,000 median of the 54 municipios computed; one municipio charges more and 52 less.
The tax follows a marginal table (limits in pesos): MX$43,521 on MX$1 million, MX$155,322 on MX$3 million and MX$470,014 on MX$8 million. The effective rate climbs from 4.35% to 5.88% between the first and the last price.
Mexico City is the only municipio of Mexico City whose acquisition tax Payotte computes. The recording fee, MX$25,098 on MX$3 million, is set by the state and comes on top.
Tax and recording fee together take 6.01% of a MX$3 million price, MX$180,420, which is 7.1 monthly payments of MX$25,248 and 30.1% on top of the MX$600,000 down payment. On a home at the state median appraisal of MX$3,301,516 the same rules give MX$199,069, 6.03% of the price.
Ranked from the lightest to the heaviest of the 54 areas, Mexico City is 53rd: just below it in the national ranking is Valladolid (Yucatán) at MX$120,000 and just above it is Querétaro (Querétaro) at MX$170,306. The lightest, Guanajuato, takes MX$24,144 on the same MX$3 million, so a buyer in Mexico City pays MX$131,178 more; the heaviest, Querétaro, takes MX$170,306, MX$14,984 more than Mexico City.
Beyond the three prices of this page, tax and fee reach MX$123,283 on MX$2 million, MX$304,120 on MX$5 million and MX$752,112 on MX$12 million. Between MX$3 million and MX$8 million, each extra peso of price carries 6.29 centavos of acquisition tax, more than the 5.18% average at MX$3 million. In the daily unit of account (UMA, MX$117 in 2026) the MX$3 million tax is 1,324 UMA and the recording fee 214.
In Mexico City, homes bought with a mortgage were appraised at a median of MX$3,301,516 from January to June 2026: the highest median of the 32 entities, 154% above the national median of MX$1,299,580. The mean, MX$4,285,135, is 1.3 times the median, so the distribution is fairly even; the upper quartile bound is 2.3 times the lower one. In that picture, a MX$3 million purchase would sit under the median appraisal.
The SHF price index of Mexico City rose +3.4% in a year, 3.9 points slower than Mexico's +7.3%: 32nd of 32 entities ranked. The 2025 SNIIV count is 17,002 home loans to individuals in Mexico City, 1.8 per 1,000 residents of the 2020 census (median entity: 3.8), for an average of MX$2,565,672, 0.78 times the median appraisal. 22.2% of homes are rented there (2024), above the median entity's 14.4%, 5th highest.
A buyer at the state median appraisal with 20% down borrows MX$2,641,213; at the Banco de México average of 11.29% over 20 years that is MX$27,785 a month, against MX$25,248 for the MX$3 million example of this page.
| Measure | Value | Reference | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico City: Acquisition tax on MX$1 million | MX$43,521 | median MX$21,588 | 53rd of 54 lightest |
| Mexico City: Acquisition tax on MX$3 million | MX$155,322 | median MX$75,000 | 53rd of 54 lightest |
| Mexico City: Acquisition tax on MX$8 million | MX$470,014 | median MX$232,239 | 53rd of 54 lightest |
| Mexico City: Effective rate at MX$3 million | 5.18% | median 2.5% | 53rd of 54 lightest |
| Mexico City: Effective rate at MX$1 and 8 million | 4.35% and 5.88% | gap 1.52 points | rising |
| Mexico City: Tax on MX$3 million in UMA | 1,324 UMA | MX$117 per UMA | 43.6 monthly UMA |
| Mexico City: Recording fee on MX$3 million | MX$25,098 | 0.84% of the price | 16.2% of the tax |
| Mexico City: Tax and fee on MX$3 million | MX$180,420 | 6.01% of the price | 54th of 54 lightest |
| Mexico City: Tax and fee on MX$12 million | MX$752,112 | 6.27% of the price | 4.2 times the MX$3 million bill |
| SHF index, Mexico City | +3.4% | Mexico +7.3% | 37th of 36 |
The figures
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Property acquisition tax (ISAI) on MX$3 million | MX$155,322 | Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, art. 112-116 (last reform Gaceta Oficial 19 Dec. 2025) |
| Recording fee, Registro Público de la Propiedad on MX$3 million | MX$25,098 | Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, art. 196-I-a (amount reformed Gaceta Oficial 19 Dec. 2025) |
| SHF price index, Mexico City, change over a year | +3.4% | SHF, Q2 2026 |
| SHF price index, Mexico City, change over a year | +3.4% | SHF, Q2 2026 |
| Median appraisal value, Mexico City (Jan.-June 2026) | MX$3,301,516 | SHF |
| Mean appraisal value, Mexico City (Jan.-June 2026) | MX$4,285,135 | SHF |
| Home loans to individuals, Mexico City, 2025 (new and existing homes) | 17,002 | SNIIV |
| Average amount of those loans | MX$2,565,672 | SNIIV |
| Share of homes rented, Mexico City (2024) | 22.2% | Payotte calculation, INEGI ENIGH 2024 |
| 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 share of rented homes is Payotte's weighted count on 2,536 sampled homes of Mexico City in INEGI's ENIGH 2024, without a margin of error.
Sources
- Acquisition tax: Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, art. 112-116 (last reform Gaceta Oficial 19 Dec. 2025); the calculator.
- Recording fee: Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México, art. 196-I-a (amount reformed Gaceta Oficial 19 Dec. 2025).
- 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.
- Renting: INEGI, Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH) 2024, housing microdata; share of rented homes computed by Payotte, no margin of error.