Buying in Montenegro from Germany, Austria or Switzerland
· 6 min read
For a buyer from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, Montenegro is one of the few places on the Mediterranean where the currency is already the euro, the flight is under two hours from Munich or Vienna, and the paperwork does not begin with a residence question.
That last point became a real advantage on 17 January 2026, when Montenegro set a minimum property value for residence permits — and exempted exactly the countries you are reading this from.
The threshold that does not apply to you
Since 17 January 2026, a foreign national applying for temporary residence on the basis of property ownership must show a tax-assessed value of at least €150,000. Nationals of EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are exempt from that requirement, and so are their family members regardless of nationality.
In practice this means a German, Austrian or Swiss buyer can still regulate residence on a modest apartment, while a British or American buyer of the identical property cannot. It is the clearest legal advantage EU and Swiss buyers currently have in this market, and it is barely six months old.
The permit itself is unchanged: issued for one year, renewable, and not a work permit.
The euro, without the eurozone
Montenegro uses the euro unilaterally. It adopted it without joining the eurozone, so there is no exchange rate to watch between your account at home and the notary here, and no conversion cost on the purchase price.
What it does not mean is that the guarantees of eurozone membership apply. Montenegro has no monetary policy of its own and its banks are not part of the euro area’s supervisory and deposit framework in the way a German or Austrian bank is. The convenience is real; the institutional backing is a different question, and worth asking your bank rather than your agent.
Three countries, three different tax treaties
Germany: the 1987 treaty with the former Yugoslavia continues to apply to Montenegro, confirmed between the two governments by an exchange of diplomatic notes, and the Federal Ministry of Finance lists it among the agreements in force.
Austria: a treaty of its own, signed in Vienna on 16 June 2014, in force since 21 April 2015 and effective from 1 January 2016 — the most recent and the most straightforward of the three.
Switzerland: the 2005 convention concluded with the then State Union of Serbia and Montenegro continues to apply to Montenegro. The 2023 amending protocol covers Serbia only, which is a distinction worth putting in front of an adviser who is working from the Serbian text.
All three allocate taxing rights and relieve double taxation; none of them removes a reporting obligation at home. Rental income earned here will generally need to appear on your domestic return.
What the purchase costs, and what accession might change
On a resale the buyer pays transfer tax on the taxable value, progressive since 1 January 2024: 3% up to €150,000, then €4,500 plus 5% above that, and €22,000 plus 6% above €500,000. On a first sale of a new build the seller accounts for VAT and the buyer pays no transfer tax. Annual municipal property tax cannot exceed 1% of market value.
By July 2026 Montenegro had provisionally closed 18 of the 33 negotiating chapters, and the government is working to close the remainder by the end of 2026 with membership targeted for 2028. That is a stated objective rather than a schedule, and anyone who sells you property on the certainty of a date is selling you something they do not control.
What accession would plausibly change for an owner is the regulatory environment rather than the title: the ownership rights you acquire today are already the same ones a Montenegrin citizen holds.
Where German-speaking buyers tend to look
The pattern differs from the British one. Buyers from the DACH countries lean towards Kotor bay and the quieter side of the coast more often than towards the marinas — stone houses in Dobrota and Prčanj, villas above the bay with a pool and a plot, places where the building has a history rather than a brand.
Across 9 towns we have 289 properties on offer, with the median per square metre running from 7,440 € in Tivat to 2,757 € in Bar.
The question worth asking before you look at photographs is not whether Montenegro is cheap — it is no longer especially cheap on the coast — but what you want the property to do when you are not in it. That answer decides between a managed apartment and a stone house, and it decides more than the price does.
Figures on this page are calculated from the live portfolio and change with it.
Informational guide based on Montenegrin legislation as of 21 September 2026. Transactions are finalized via licensed public notaries.