Summary
The real risks of buying property in Peru are paperwork and people, not the law: fake owners, forged powers of attorney and hidden debts, plus earthquakes and a 50 km border strip where foreigners can't buy.
Outside that strip, foreigners, even non-residents, own on the same terms as Peruvians (Article 71 of the Constitution). Only registration at SUNARP protects you against third parties, and a tourist needs Migraciones' permit to sign, free since October 2023 and valid for up to 30 days.
Most scams play on haste: a fake owner, a forged poder, a hidden mortgage. SUNARP's free Alerta Registral is the cheap fix, and Peruvians know it: 220,569 registry files were signed up in 2025, up from 147,167 in 2024.
Before paying anything, order the CRI certificate yourself (10 years of owners, 30 years of charges) and check municipal tax debts at the district, which SUNARP doesn't show. Court cases take years, so prevention beats a lawsuit.
On a $150,000 (about S/ 516,000) resale, alcabala, SUNARP and notary fees come to S/ 15,672 to S/ 16,922, or 3.0% to 3.3% of the price. Alcabala is 3% above the first S/ 55,000 ($16,000).
Every payment of S/ 2,000 or $500 and up must go through a bank, so "cash under the table" leaves you with no proof and a bigger tax bill when you sell.
The exit trap: a non-resident who sells pays 5%, and without SUNAT's cost certificate it is 5% of the whole price. On a $180,000 sale, that is $9,000 instead of about $1,500.
Agents have a public registry you can check in minutes, and their 3% to 5% commission is normally paid by the seller.
No inspection is required by law, so pay a civil engineer yourself, and budget about S/ 1,500 ($435) to S/ 8,000 ($2,350) for a lawyer's title check.
Nature is the other risk: Lima has had no very large earthquake since 1746, and national drills rehearse a magnitude 8.8 quake. The Costa Verde cliffs have 65 landslide hot spots, and ENFEN sees an extraordinary coastal El Niño most likely between September 2026 and January 2027.
In Lima, extortion keeps the city under a state of emergency, extended again for 60 days from October 28, 2026. The buying rules did not change when Keiko Fujimori took office on July 28, 2026.
Foreigners who pay the asking price often overpay: new builds in Lima sold about 5.5% below advertised prices in July 2026, with 55,916 new apartments still for sale in August.
Bottom line: check SUNARP before any deposit, budget about 4% on top of the price, pay through a bank, keep every receipt, and buy in a building with a permit and a conformidad de obra.
What protects you legally as a foreign buyer in Peru?
Can foreigners legally own properties?
Yes. Under Article 71 of the Constitution, foreigners, even non-residents, can own property in Peru on the same terms as Peruvians, in their own name.
There is one major restriction: you cannot own property within 50 kilometers of Peru's borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia or Chile, directly or indirectly, unless a Supreme Decree approved by the Council of Ministers declares a public necessity. Lima, Arequipa city, Cusco and Trujillo are not affected; Tumbes, parts of Tacna and Puno, Madre de Dios and much of Loreto are where you check the distance first.
Since you can buy in your own name, you don't need a local company or a nominee. Avoid both: a company adds costs and does not get around the border rule, and a nominee owns your home on paper.
What buyer rights do foreigners actually have?
Foreign buyers in Peru can buy, sell, rent out, inherit and transfer property freely, and these rights are enforceable in Peruvian courts just as they are for Peruvians.
If a seller breaches a contract, you can ask a court to cancel it, award damages or force the sale, but Peruvian court cases can take several years.
The most common mistake is thinking a signed private contract protects you. Only registration at SUNARP (Peru's public registry) gives you priority over anyone else who claims the same property. And if you are in Peru as a tourist, the notary will ask for Migraciones' special permit to sign contracts: it has been free since October 2023, can take up to 5 business days and is valid for up to 30 days, so ask for it once you have a signing date.
How strong is contract enforcement in Peru right now?
Middling. Contracts are enforceable, but a dispute in Peruvian courts can take several years, and we found no reliable average for how long or how much.
Timing and outcome are hard to predict, so the smart move is to set up the purchase so you never need a court: registry check first, deposits held under written conditions, and a lawyer who works for you, not for the seller.
Buying in Peru as a Foreigner
Which scams target foreign buyers in Peru right now?
Are scams against foreigners common in Peru right now?
Common enough that SUNARP runs two free anti-fraud services and keeps publicizing them. We found no official count of real estate scams, so we won't give you a made-up percentage.
What we can measure is how worried owners are: 220,569 registry files were signed up for SUNARP's Alerta Registral in 2025, about 50% more than the 147,167 of 2024, and 9,274 properties were locked with the free "inmovilización" service, up from 4,746.
The usual targets are quick cash purchases of apartments in Miraflores, Barranco and San Isidro, where foreign buyers feel rushed. Banks have no standard mortgage for a non-resident without Peruvian income, so most foreigners pay cash, and there is no bank appraisal or bank lawyer checking the file for them.
The profile scammers like best: a first-time buyer who doesn't speak Spanish and relies on the seller's agent or lawyer. The biggest warning sign is a seller or agent who won't give you the SUNARP partida registral number, or tells you not to bother checking before the deposit.
What are the top three scams foreigners face?
Three come up again and again: identity theft (someone poses as the real owner with forged documents), deposit pressure (you are rushed to wire money before the title check), and hidden charges (a mortgage, a lien or a court order you only discover after paying).
The classic version: an "owner" or "family member" shows you convincing paperwork, suggests their own notary, says other buyers are ready to sign this week, and asks for a deposit today. Later you find the documents were fake or the property carries debts.
The fix is the same for all three: check ownership and charges at SUNARP yourself or through your own lawyer before paying a sol, sign the property up for Alerta Registral, and pick your own notary from the official directory.
How do I verify the seller and ownership in Peru without getting fooled?
How do I confirm the seller is the real owner in Peru?
Get the property's partida registral (its electronic registry file) from SUNARP. It shows the registered owner's name and ID number: match it against the seller's ID in person or through your lawyer.
Then order the Certificado Registral Inmobiliario (CRI) yourself, online or at a SUNARP office. It is a certified snapshot of ownership, charges and restrictions, covering at least 10 years of owners and 30 years of charges.
The usual trick of a fake seller is a nice-looking PDF or photocopy of registry documents, with no partida number you could check yourself. SUNARP warns against accepting screenshots instead of running your own search.
Where do I check liens or mortgages on a property?
At SUNARP (Superintendencia Nacional de los Registros Públicos), the national registry, online or at any of its offices.
Ask for the full cargas y gravámenes (charges and encumbrances): active mortgages, court seizures (embargos) and pending claims. A basic ownership printout may not show everything.
The debt foreign buyers miss most is municipal tax (impuesto predial and arbitrios). It doesn't always appear at SUNARP, so ask the district (SAT in Lima) for a certificate showing no debts.
How do I spot forged documents in Peru right now?
The most common forgery is a fake poder (power of attorney) that supposedly lets someone sell for the real owner. Notaries and lawyers tell buyers to check every power independently: a real one used for a sale is registered at SUNARP.
Red flags: no originals, blurry or odd notary seals, registry numbers that don't match SUNARP, and a seller who insists on their own notary.
To check, compare any document with SUNARP's records, look up the notary in the Ministry of Justice (MINJUS) directory, and if in doubt have your lawyer call that notary to confirm the deed exists.
70+pagesWhat "grey-area" practices should I watch for in Peru?
What hidden costs surprise foreigners when buying a property?
Three costs surprise foreigners. The alcabala transfer tax: 3% of the value above the first 10 UIT, or S/ 55,000 ($16,000) in 2026, paid by the buyer on a resale (a developer's first sale is exempt except on the land share). The SUNARP fee: about 0.3% of the value plus S/ 44.50. And the notary: about S/ 250 ($73) to S/ 1,500 ($435) for the deed.
On a $150,000 (about S/ 516,000) resale, that adds up to S/ 15,672 to S/ 16,922, or 3.0% to 3.3% of the price. Buying a new unit from a developer costs about 1% to 2%, since the 18% IGV is already in the price. Add a lawyer and budget about 4%.
The cost sellers hide most often is unpaid municipal tax (predial and arbitrios). It should be cleared before the transfer, so get the district's certificate of no debts before closing.
Are "cash under the table" requests common in Peru right now?
Rare in formal apartment sales in Miraflores, San Isidro or Surco, but they still show up on cheaper homes, rural land and with sellers who want to cut their own tax.
The pitch is always the same "win-win": a lower price on the deed, so the seller pays less tax on the gain and you pay less alcabala.
Say no. Every payment of S/ 2,000 ($580) or $500 and up must go through a bank (bancarización), so cash leaves you with nothing to prove what you paid if there is a dispute. It also exposes you to tax fraud charges, and a low declared price means a bigger taxable gain when you sell.
Are side agreements used to bypass rules in Peru right now?
Sometimes, mostly private promises about furniture, parking, storage or future works that the parties keep out of the notarized deed.
The riskiest one is an informal promise about the real area or boundaries when they don't match the registry. It blocks a future sale or starts a fight with a neighbor.
If a side agreement comes out, a court can refuse to enforce it; if it was meant to lower the declared value, you face tax penalties, and in serious cases of false declarations, criminal liability for both parties.
What tax trap catches foreigners when they sell?
The one on the way out. A non-resident who sells pays 5%, withheld by a Peruvian buyer. If you don't first get SUNAT's certificate of recovery of the capital invested (certificado de recuperación del capital invertido), the 5% is applied to the whole price, not to your gain.
On a $180,000 (about S/ 619,000) sale, that is $9,000 instead of about $1,500 on the gain. Keep every purchase and works receipt from day one, and ask for the certificate before you sign the sale.
A full round trip (buy, then sell) costs about 6% to 8% of the price before tax, or $9,300 to $12,400 on a $155,000 apartment, so plan to hold for several years.
70+pagesCan I trust real estate agents in Peru?
Are real estate agents regulated?
On paper, yes. Agents must be listed in the Registro del Agente Inmobiliario run by the Ministry of Housing (MVCS), under Supreme Decree 010-2016-VIVIENDA, but enforcement is weak and unregistered agents still work openly.
A serious agent is in that registry and has to meet its professional rules.
Checking takes a few minutes: search the agent's name on the gob.pe portal for the Registro del Agente Inmobiliario, which shows whether the registration is current.
What agent fee percentage is normal?
Usually 3% to 5% of the price, with no official tariff. If the agent adds the 18% IGV, that is about 3.5% to 5.9%.
Expensive homes in Miraflores or San Isidro often get a slightly lower rate; cheap homes sometimes pay more.
On a resale, the seller normally pays, but the cost is often built into the asking price. If you hire your own buyer's agent, they will expect separate pay, so put who pays what, on which base and with or without IGV, in writing.
What due diligence actually prevents disasters in Peru?
What structural inspection is standard in Peru right now?
None is required by law. Many sales close after a quick walk-through by the buyer, maybe with a contractor's opinion. In an earthquake country, that is not enough.
A good inspector checks the structure (foundations, columns, cracks), plumbing and water pressure, the electrical panel, damp and water damage, especially in coastal Lima, and whether the building follows the seismic code.
Hire a licensed civil engineer (ingeniero civil) or architect for a written report, and for an older building, someone who knows earthquake-resistant construction. Ask for the building license and the conformidad de obra, the municipality's sign-off that the building matches its plans.
What inspections usually find: damp and mold (Lima's winter fog gets into everything), walls removed without a permit, old wiring that can't handle modern appliances, and plumbing problems under fresh paint.
How do I confirm exact boundaries?
Compare the SUNARP registry description (area and boundaries) with what is on the ground, and if they differ, order a survey.
The legal boundaries are in the memoria descriptiva and plano perimétrico (descriptive report and perimeter plan) filed at SUNARP.
The usual problem: the real built area differs from the registered one, because of informal extensions or old records. That can block a future sale or start a fight with a neighbor.
Hire a licensed surveyor (topógrafo) or civil engineer for a certified survey (levantamiento topográfico) you can compare with the registry and use as evidence.
What defects are commonly hidden in Peru right now?
Three come up most: damp and mold under fresh paint (very common in coastal Lima), unpermitted works such as removed walls or added bathrooms, and building problems like a tired elevator, roof leaks or an empty maintenance fund in older buildings.
To catch them, visit at different times of day and, if you can, during the winter garúa (fog) season when damp shows; run all the taps at once; ask for the building's meeting minutes and accounts; and use a moisture meter on freshly painted walls.
A lawyer's check of the title, liens, powers and municipal debts costs about S/ 1,500 ($435) to S/ 8,000 ($2,350), depending on how messy the file is. It is the cheapest insurance you'll buy.
70+pagesHow big are the earthquake, cliff and El Niño risks in Peru?
Earthquakes. Peru sits on the Pacific "ring of fire". Lima's biggest recorded quake was in 1746, estimated at magnitude 8.8 to 9, and none of that size has hit since. National drills rehearse a magnitude 8.8 quake, says the IGP (Peru's geophysical institute). Its head, Hernando Tavera, warned in May 2025 that homes not designed for strong shaking could collapse.
What to do: favor buildings with a license and a conformidad de obra, built under the current seismic code (Norma E.030), avoid self-built extensions stacked on old houses, and get earthquake cover. We found no reliable average premium; ask two or three insurers for quotes with and without earthquake cover.
The Costa Verde cliffs. Lima's city government counts 65 critical landslide and falling-rock points on the Costa Verde slopes: 31 in Miraflores, 18 in Barranco and 16 in Magdalena (January 2026). The risk is on the cliff edge and the road below, not across whole districts, so check the exact location of a clifftop building and its distance from the edge.
El Niño. ENFEN, the official El Niño committee, keeps a coastal El Niño alert. In its communiqué of September 14, 2026 (No. 16-2026), it saw an extraordinary event as most likely between September 2026 and January 2027, with above-normal rain on the north coast from November and the event lasting until mid-autumn 2027.
That matters mostly for Piura, Tumbes, Lambayeque and the Trujillo area, and for homes near dry riverbeds (quebradas) that flood in heavy rain. Before buying there, check the address on CENEPRED's risk maps and ask neighbors what happened in 2017.
Is crime or politics in Lima a reason to wait before buying?
Crime. The state of emergency in Lima Metropolitana and Callao over extortion has been extended several times in 2025 and 2026, most recently for 60 more days from October 28, 2026 (Supreme Decree 142-2026-PCM). We have no reliable crime figure by district, so don't trust anyone who quotes one off the top of their head.
What to check: the building's security (doorman, cameras, controlled access), what neighbors say about the street at night, and, for a new build, whether the developer delivered its last projects on time.
Politics. Keiko Fujimori won the June 7, 2026 runoff and took office on July 28, 2026, Peru's ninth president in a decade. Article 71 and the 50 km border rule did not change, and nothing in her stated priorities (political stability, crime and growth) touches foreign ownership.
The sol. It was at about 3.44 per dollar on October 22, 2026, a bit weaker than a month earlier but still stronger than its 2025 average of 3.56. Most Miraflores, San Isidro and Barranco apartments are priced in dollars, so their dollar price doesn't move with the sol; homes priced in soles cost you more in dollars than in 2024 or 2025.
70+pagesWhat insider lessons do foreigners share after buying in Peru?
What do foreigners say they did wrong?
The mistake foreigners mention most: trusting the seller's document copies instead of checking SUNARP themselves, and finding fraud or debts only after paying.
The three regrets that follow: using the seller's notary or lawyer, paying a reservation deposit before the registry check, and not budgeting the closing costs (about 3.0% to 3.3% on a resale, before a lawyer).
The advice experienced buyers give: the SUNARP check is step zero, not step five. Do it before you negotiate or fall for the view.
What cost them the most stress: signing in a hurry because "other buyers are ready to sign", skipping checks and discovering problems that were expensive or impossible to fix.
What do locals do differently when buying?
Experienced Peruvian buyers start at SUNARP, checking ownership and charges before they even visit. Foreigners usually start with viewings and think about the registry once they are already attached.
The step locals take and foreigners skip: signing the property up for Alerta Registral, which emails you whenever anyone files a document on it while you negotiate and close. It's free, and you can keep it after you buy.
Locals also don't pay the asking price, especially for new builds. In July 2026, new apartments in Lima sold about 5.5% below their advertised price, and with 55,916 new apartments still for sale in Lima and Callao in August 2026 (about 23 months of sales), you have room to negotiate. On a $180,000 (about S/ 619,000) apartment, 5.5% is about $9,900.
Our methodology
This article covers the risks a foreigner faces when buying a home in Peru: what the law allows, the scams and grey areas, agents, due diligence, natural hazards, crime and politics, and the costs of getting in and out.
The legal answers come first from primary sources: Article 71 of the Constitution, SUNARP's registry and anti-fraud services (with 2024 and 2025 sign-up figures from El Peruano), the MINJUS notary directory and the MVCS agent registry. Market figures (asking-to-sold gap, new-build stock) come from CODIP data published by Acento; natural-risk figures come from the IGP, the Municipalidad de Lima and ENFEN.
Tax and fee rules come from SUNAT (sale tax for non-residents, bancarización), SAT Lima (alcabala, with the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500), SUNARP and notary fees as reported by EximiaHaus, agent fees from Acento and the signing permit from Migraciones. We calculated the closing-cost and sale-tax examples ourselves.
We checked these figures in October 2026. Sol amounts are converted at about 3.44 soles per US dollar (and 3.85 soles per euro), the SUNAT/SBS rate of October 22, 2026.
Where we had no direct figure, such as how often scams happen, how long a court case lasts, crime by district or insurance premiums, we did not make one up and said so. Your own costs will depend on the property, the district, the notary and lawyer you choose, and your residency and tax status.
Key sources used for this analysis include the Constitution published by Peru's Congress, SUNARP's Alerta Registral, El Peruano on SUNARP's free protection services, GOB.PE's CRI page, the MINJUS notary directory, the MVCS agent registry, SAT Lima on alcabala, EximiaHaus on notary and registry fees, SUNAT on tax on property sales and América TV on ENFEN's September 2026 communiqué.
