A Guide to Real Estate Agents in Andorra: Agencies, Realtors and Licensing Explained
Updated: Sep 2
It can be quite challenging to understand the subtle differences between professions in a new country compared with back home. When it comes to real estate agents in Andorra, it's the AGIA (the Andorran Professional Real Estate Association) that controls the licenses, regulations, and examinations for this profession. Read on for everything you need to know about how Andorra's real estate agents are licensed, what to expect from an agency, and why buyer's agents are becoming essential in today's market.
How Are Real Estate Agents in Andorra Trained?
Once a year, the AGIA, via the University of Andorra, offers a 20 ECTS credit course and final examination for prospective real estate agents in Andorra looking to become licensed. It's only after passing this course and exam and paying a €3,000 deposit to the association that someone is able to open a real estate agency in Andorra.
The AGIA exam covers a range of topics. The general subjects include Andorran geography and how the country is administratively divided. The more specific topics cover taxation, property rules and regulations, and legal procedures.
Until recently, it was a relatively easy exam to pass with no need to complete a university level course — mostly because the property market wasn't of much interest to most people. However, since property prices have surged over the last few years, more and more people have become eager to get the qualification. Originally, the yearly course and final exam were organized by the Government. Nowadays, in response to the increased interest and a lack of professionalism within the sector, the Government has outsourced the exam to the University of Andorra. The course still spans a year, but the exam is now considerably harder to pass — the content has expanded, applicants need substantial legal knowledge, and marking is far stricter than before.
How Many Real Estate Agents and Agencies Are There in Andorra?
According to the AGIA there are currently 345 licensed real estate brokers in Andorra and 275 real estate agencies in Andorra. The majority of these agencies aren't actually acting as property brokers on the buy-sell market. Instead, they offer other services such as building management and maintenance, or property investment and asset management.
We identified just over 150 agencies advertising property brokering in the buy-sell market, and of those, only around 50–60 real estate agencies in Andorra work exclusively in buy-sell property transactions.
Within that buy-sell market, not every real estate agent you meet will be individually licensed. In fact, of the roughly 50 agencies working mostly or exclusively as property brokers, nearly all had only one licensed broker in-house. That's because the AGIA license is only required to create a real estate company — once the agency exists, its other working agents can be trained internally with no requirement to be individually licensed or examined by the AGIA.
What Types of Real Estate Agents Operate in Andorra?
The vast majority of real estate agents directly involved in Andorra's property broker market are selling agents. In fact, there are no other exclusive buying agencies operating in Andorra apart from Pierce & Sharp.
As covered above, many licensed real estate agencies in Andorra aren't selling agencies or property brokers at all. Instead, they offer services such as:
Property investment
Building management and administration
Family companies that manage property patrimony
Relocation agencies that join the AGIA to secure commission on their clients' property purchases
What Commission Do Real Estate Agents Charge in Andorra?
Realtor commission — paid solely by the seller — is capped at 5% by law though usually sits at around 4%. Sellers can occasionally negotiate a lower rate than this maximum, but it depends on the individual agency involved in the sale.
Choosing the Right Listing Agent in Andorra
Over time and through experience, we've been able to shortlist the selling agents who are the most responsive (by Andorran standards!), transparent, and professional. Depending on the properties available and which listing agent they belong to, we choose the right selling agent to work with for each property. This selling agent will often change from one property to the next, so that you get access to the full panorama of Andorra's real estate market.
Do Buyer's Agents Exist Among Real Estate Agents in Andorra?
Property buying agents have never been as ingrained in European culture as in other parts of the world. That's changing, though, and people are catching on to this shortfall in the European housing market — buying agents are now popping up in cities across Europe. Buyer's agents in Andorra, specifically, have until now been an almost unseen concept. The real estate landscape in Andorra has shifted substantially over the past 10 years, and the needs of the past aren't the needs of today. This is exactly why we created Pierce & Sharp, an exclusive buying agency built to look out for your interests in this new era of Andorran real estate.
Why Weren't Buyer's Agents Needed in Andorra in the Past?
Historically, most property buyers in Andorra came from Spain and France, if not locally. Sales were few and far between, languages were shared between countries, and the Andorra real estate market was extremely stable, with modest demand and healthy supply. It's understandable, then, why buyer's agents weren't necessary until relatively recently.
Why Do You Need a Buyer's Agent in Andorra?
Today's landscape looks quite different. Although foreign investment in property continues to flow from Spain and France in large numbers, there's been a major shift at the immigration and foreign investment level. Many new residents and foreign investors in Andorran property now come from increasingly diverse backgrounds, where neither the culture nor the language is shared with Andorra. On top of that, the supply of property has stagnated, and — importantly — there's no public record of property purchases, meaning historical sale prices are largely hidden from public view. Read more in our blog post, The Andorra Real Estate Crisis, What Happened?, to understand the changes affecting our property market.
The consequence of these factors is that property prices have continued rising into 2027, despite a global trend of price stabilization in most property markets over the past couple of years. And importantly, without the help of a buyer's agent working on their behalf, an unsuspecting expat can easily be persuaded into overpaying, or into buying an unsuitable property with underlying issues.
This is why we believe having a dedicated buyer's agent is paramount when purchasing a home or investment property in Andorra today.
