Real estate companies must apply 3% salary increases for 2026

The Directorate General of Labor has published Resolution 22/2026 (BOE-A-2026-17058), which registers and publishes the minutes of the Joint Commission regarding the definitive salary tables for the years 2025 and 2026 under the VIII State Collective Agreement for real estate management and mediation companies. This administrative act formalizes the wage adjustments negotiated between the employers' federation (FADEI) and the major trade unions (UGT and CCOO), establishing the legal framework for labor costs in the sector for the upcoming period.

What changes

The primary change introduced by this resolution is the definitive establishment of the salary scales for the 2025 and 2026 periods. According to the Second Agreement of the Joint Commission minutes, the salary tables for the 2026 fiscal year must be increased by 3% over the 2025 tables. This adjustment is not discretionary but is a direct consequence of the mechanisms established in the collective agreement.

Furthermore, the First Agreement of the Joint Commission confirms that the 2025 salary tables, previously published as initial figures, are now considered definitive. This decision stems from the fact that the annual variation of the Consumer Price Index (IPC) for 2025 was recorded at 2.8% by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Since this figure is lower than the 3% threshold established for wage revision in Article 28 of the collective agreement, the commission has opted to consolidate the 2025 scales and apply the fixed 3% increase for 2026 as per the Second Agreement.

Context

This resolution is part of the ongoing application of the VIII State Collective Agreement for real estate management and mediation companies (code 99014585012004). Collective agreements in Spain function as a regulatory framework that sits between general labor law and individual employment contracts, providing specific minimum wage standards, working conditions, and professional classifications for entire sectors.

The mechanism used here is the "wage revision clause" found in Article 28 of the agreement. Such clauses are designed to protect the purchasing power of workers by linking salary increases to inflation (IPC) or fixed percentages. In this specific case, the Joint Commission acts as the governing body that interprets these clauses when the inflation data becomes available. By registering this act in the Registry of Collective Agreements, the Directorate General of Labor ensures that the negotiated terms have full legal force and are enforceable against all companies and workers covered by the scope of the VIII Collective Agreement.

Who is affected and how

SMEs and Real Estate Agencies
Small and medium-sized enterprises operating within the scope of the VIII State Collective Agreement are directly obligated to update their payroll systems. These companies must ensure that the 2026 salary tables, which include a 3% increase over the 2025 rates, are applied to all eligible employees. Failure to comply could result in labor inspections and claims for back pay. For these businesses, this resolution provides much-needed certainty regarding labor cost forecasting for the 2025-2026 biennium.

Self-employed Professionals (Autónomos)
Self-employed individuals who operate within the real estate management and mediation sector and fall under the scope of this collective agreement must also adhere to these standards if they employ staff. While the agreement does not dictate their personal income, it strictly governs the compensation of any employees they hire under the professional categories defined in the agreement.

Large Real Estate Corporations
Large companies involved in property management, mediation, and real estate services must integrate these definitive tables into their global human resources and budgeting processes. Given the scale of these organizations, the 3% increase across all professional levels (from administrative directors to commercial directors) will have a significant impact on the total labor cost budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

Sector Workers
Employees working in real estate management and mediation will see a guaranteed increase in their base salary for 2026. The resolution ensures that their wages are adjusted according to the negotiated terms, providing a level of stability and protection against the erosion of purchasing power caused by inflation.

An example

To understand the impact of the Second Agreement, let us examine the professional profile of a "Director/a Gerente" (Level N1) as detailed in the salary table provided in the resolution:

• 2024 Initial Salary: €20,667.42 per year.
• 2025 Definitive Salary: €21,287.44 per year (representing the initial 2025 scale).
• 2026 Mandatory Salary: €21,926.06 per year.

In this case, the worker receives a direct increase of €638.62 in their annual base salary when moving from the 2025 scale to the 2026 scale, strictly following the 3% increase mandated by the Joint Commission.

What to do and when

Based on the provisions of Resolution 22/2026 (BOE-A-2026-17058), affected parties should follow these steps:

• Payroll Audit: Companies must immediately verify that the 2025 salary tables are being applied as the definitive figures, as the IPC variation (2.8%) has been officially confirmed.
• Budgetary Adjustment: Finance and HR departments must incorporate the 3% increase for the 2026 professional categories into their upcoming annual budgets.
• Implementation: Ensure that the 2026 salary scales are active in the payroll system from the first day of the 2026 fiscal year to avoid non-compliance with the Second Agreement.

For specific guidance on how these changes affect your particular employment contracts or corporate structure, we recommend consulting with the labor law specialists at BMC.