Buying property in Paraguay. What foreigners can do, what's off-limits, and what it costs.

The baseline

Full freehold ownership for foreigners — outside the border zone.

Paraguay has no general restriction on foreign ownership of urban property, urban land, or non-rural plots. You can buy on a tourist stamp, register the title in your name, and rent the property out. The only meaningful restriction is the agricultural border zone explained below.

• Open to anyone: tourists, TR holders, PR holders, citizens — full freehold (escritura pública) registered at DGRP.
• No minimum investment, no maximum, no annual local-presence rule. The property is yours indefinitely.
• Inheritance: foreign-owned property passes by Paraguayan succession law. Heirs file at the local civil court — usually a 3–6 month process. No inheritance tax on the property's value, but a small registration fee applies.
• Joint ownership and corporate ownership both work. Many investors title via a Paraguayan SA or SRL when the goal is rental income or eventual resale — the company-level math can offset the 1% property tax against rental IRP.
• Rentals: holding rental property requires a RUC (so a Cédula). Tourists buying as pure investors typically register the title individually but route rental income through a Paraguayan management company.

The one big restriction

The 50 km border zone — agricultural land off-limits.

Law 2532/2005, the Ley de Frontera, prohibits foreign nationals from owning or renting RURAL land within 50 km of any international border. Urban plots inside the same band are NOT covered — you can buy a house in Encarnación, Pedro Juan Caballero, or Ciudad del Este without trouble. The restriction targets agricultural and ranching land specifically.

• Applies to: foreign individuals AND foreign-controlled companies (>50% foreign capital). PR holders are still considered foreign for this purpose.
• Geography: 50 km from any land or river border with Brazil, Argentina, or Bolivia. Most of Itapúa east, Alto Paraná, Canindeyú, Amambay, Concepción, Boquerón, Alto Paraguay, and Ñeembucú are inside.
• Doesn't apply to: urban-zoned plots inside the band, chácaras under ~3 hectares used for residence, properties owned by Paraguayan citizens (incl. naturalised citizens with case-by-case Poder Ejecutivo authorisation).
• Practical workaround: structure the holding via a Paraguayan citizen (spouse, partner, fiduciary) — but title fraud risks here are real. Most foreign investors avoid the border zone for agricultural plays.
• Naturalised citizens: can apply for an Executive-branch authorisation for individual purchases. The process exists but is slow (12–18 months); only worth it for sizeable agro investments.

The transaction

From listing to title — the standard flow.

A typical buy takes 30–60 days from accepted offer to registered title. Half of that is sat at the DGRP waiting for the registration backlog. Build the timing in.

1. 01

   Reserve & boleta de informes (title search)

   Sign a 'boleta de reserva' with a 5–10% deposit. The seller's notary (or yours) pulls the boleta de informes from DGRP — a 30-year title history showing all transfers, liens, and encumbrances. NEVER skip this. Cost: Gs. 80,000–250,000 (US$ 11–35).

2. 02

   Cadastral check + survey

   Pull the cadastral file from Catastro to confirm boundaries match the deed and to read the avalúo fiscal (cadastral value, basis for property tax). For rural plots, commission a fresh survey — Paraguayan rural boundaries drift over decades.

3. 03

   Escritura pública (public deed)

   Both parties sign the deed at a notary (escribano público). The deed lists the property, the price, and the chain of title. Notary fee: 0.7–1.5% of declared price, by law. Buyer typically pays.

4. 04

   DGRP registration

   Notary submits the signed deed to DGRP for inscription in the Registro de Inmuebles. Standard backlog: 15–45 days in Asunción, longer in regions. Until inscribed, the buyer is the legal but not the registered owner — sale to third parties is blocked.

5. 05

   Catastro update + Municipal registration

   Once registered at DGRP, file a copy with the Municipalidad's Catastro to put the next year's property tax into the buyer's name. Failure to do this is the most common reason a buyer gets a tax bill addressed to the previous owner two years later.

Total transaction cost (notary + DGRP + Catastro + minor stamps): typically 2.5–4% of declared price. Realtor commissions sit on top — see the next section.

Realtor fees + listings

Where Paraguayan property is actually listed and what the agent costs.

There is no nationwide MLS. Listings fragment across three platforms plus Facebook + WhatsApp groups. Many properties surface only via the local 'inmobiliaria' (agency) network and never hit the public sites at all.

Where listings live

• Infocasas

  The largest public-facing portal. Best coverage in Asunción, Central, Itapúa, Alto Paraná. Filterable by neighbourhood, m², price range. URL: infocasas.com.py.

• Vivendi

  Strong for premium listings in Asunción suburbs (Villa Morra, Carmelitas, Surubi'í) and Lake Ypacaraí. Historical photos lag — verify before flying in.

• Inmobusqueda + Clasipar

  Aggregator + general classifieds. Useful for chácaras and rural plots that the bigger sites skip.

• Local inmobiliaria networks

  In every department capital. Many decent properties never reach the portals — walk into 2–3 inmobiliarias on the ground and ask for off-market listings.

• Facebook + WhatsApp groups

  'Asunción Real Estate', 'Encarnación Inmuebles', 'Expats Paraguay'. Direct-from-owner sales bypass agent commissions but skip the due-diligence layer.

Commission reality

• Buyer's agent: 3–5% of the sale price, paid by buyer at closing.
• Seller's agent: 3–5%, paid by seller at closing.
• Total combined commission therefore lands at 6–10%, far higher than the US standard 5–6%.
• Negotiable: yes. On bigger transactions (>US$ 200k) most agents accept 2–3% per side. Always ask.

Financing

Mortgages — practically PR-only, and 30–50% down.

Paraguayan banks do not extend mortgages to non-residents. TR holders sometimes qualify with substantial down-payments and a 6+ month income trail in a Paraguayan account, but the standard advice from every realtor is: pay cash. Most foreign buyers do.

Some sellers offer financing directly (financiación del propietario): 30–50% down, 5–10 year term, 8–12% interest. Document this carefully and always escrow at a notary — informal seller-financing has the highest incidence of fraud in the local market.

Annual costs

Property tax + recurring costs.

Paraguay's annual property tax (Impuesto Inmobiliario) is low by global standards — 1% on the cadastral value, not the market value. Cadastral values are typically 30–60% of market, so the effective rate sits at 0.3–0.6% of what you actually paid.

• Impuesto Inmobiliario (annual property tax)

  1% of avalúo fiscal

  Paid to the Municipalidad in 2 instalments (March + September). Avalúo fiscal is the cadastral value held at Catastro — usually 30–60% of market. Municipal websites (Asunción, Encarnación) accept online payment.

• Tasa de barrido + alumbrado (street sweep + lighting)

  Gs. 200,000–800,000/yr

  Per-property surcharge collected with the Impuesto Inmobiliario.

• Edificio fee (HOA equivalent)

  Gs. 400,000–2,500,000/mo

  Apartments in Asunción charge an 'expensa común' for security, lift, pool, building staff. US$ 55–340/mo. Houses don't have one but pay private security separately.

• Annual home insurance

  0.15–0.30% of value

  Optional but lenders require it for mortgaged properties. Mapfre, La Consolidada, Aseguradora Tajy.

• Rental income tax (if you rent it out)

  8–10% IRP

  Rental income from Paraguayan property is taxed locally — it's domestic income, not foreign. RUC holders file annually.

Price reality

What you actually pay per square metre.

Numbers below are mid-2026 listings, sampled from Infocasas + on-the-ground checks. Treat as a calibration not a quote — neighbourhood-level variation is large.

Rent first

Rent before you buy — almost everyone benefits.

The rental market is fast and flexible. 6–12 months of renting before a purchase lets you learn the neighbourhood, hear about off-market deals, and avoid an expensive title-due-diligence mistake.

• Standard rental contract: 12 or 24 months, 1 month deposit + 1 month advance. No agent fee on rentals if you go through Infocasas direct, ~half a month if via inmobiliaria.
• Rental yield on Asunción condos: 5–7% gross. Tight by US/EU standards but consistent with strong USD-buying demand.
• Furnished short-term (Airbnb-style) widely available in Villa Morra + Carmelitas at 1.5–2.5x unfurnished long-term rates. Useful for the first 30 days.
• Rentals in less-trafficked neighbourhoods rarely list on portals. Walk into local inmobiliarias and ask for 'alquiler 1 año'.

Common pitfalls

Where transactions go wrong.

• Skipping the boleta de informes

  Title fraud is rarer than it used to be but still happens. The 30-year history reveals split-title issues, contested inheritance, mortgages that weren't released. Cost: ~US$ 30. Always.

• Trusting verbal price 'descuentos'

  Some sellers + agents agree on a low declared price (to cut transaction tax) with the buyer paying the difference in cash off the books. Tempting and very common — but DGRP records only the declared figure, so resale taxes punish you later AND under-declaration is illegal under SEPRELAD AML rules.

• Buying agro land in the border zone

  Even via a Paraguayan straw owner. Court reversals on Ley de Frontera violations have been increasing since 2023.

• Skipping the Catastro update

  Property tax keeps invoicing the seller, you don't get the bill, you accumulate late fees. Always file the cambio de titular within 30 days of DGRP inscription.

• Informal seller financing

  If you accept seller financing, escrow at a reputable notary. Never wire to a personal account on a handshake.

• Renovation without permit

  Asunción + Encarnación both require a permiso de obra for structural work. Operating without one + reselling later means an unpermitted structure shows up in due diligence and reduces the buyer's offer.