Portugal's mild climate, delicious cuisine, an excellent safety record, beautiful beaches and green landscapes attract foreigners from the four corners of the world to both visit and live in the country. There are also schemes, such as golden visas, which encourage foreign investment in the Portuguese property market in exchange for residence permits. But where are most foreigners searching for property to buy in Portugal? Where do expats in Portugal live? According to a study by idealista, Lisbon, Loulé, Albufeira, Cascais and Porto were the 5 most sought-after municipalities by non-residents to buy a house in the country in the second quarter of 2022. Let's have a look at property prices in the 5 Portuguese towns that attract the most foreigners.
Lisbon: the city that most attracts foreigners buying property
The Portuguese capital was the city that recorded the highest demand from foreigners in search of buying property in the second quarter of 2022. Leading the search are the North Americans, followed by Brazilians, the British, Germans and the French.
Analysing by price range, 68% of French people look for properties for sale for less than 300,000 euros, followed by Brazilians (47%), Brits (46%), Germans (46%) and North Americans (36%).
With regard to houses for sale costing between 300,000 and 600,000 euros, North Americans (35%) are the most interested in this price bracket, followed by Germans (31%), British (31%), French (29%) and Brazilian buyers (26%). North Americans (18%) are those who are looking for the most homes that cost between 600,000 and 1 million euros, followed by Brits (15%), Brazilians (14%) and Germans (13%).
In the luxury residential market, which includes properties worth over 1 million euros, Brazilians are the most interested (12%) in buying a house in Lisbon, followed by North American and German buyers (10% for both nationalities), Brits (9%) and the French (3%).
Loulé: destination of choice for British buyers
Loulé in the Algarve is the second municipality that attracted the most interest from foreigners interested in buying property in Portugal, with the British topping the list, followed by the French, Germans, North Americans and the Dutch.
By house price range, 56% of the French and Dutch are searching for properties for less than 300,000 euros, followed by the Germans (47%), the British (43%) and North Americans (14%). With regard to homes in the price range of 300,000 and 600,000 euros, it is North Americans buyers (47%) who are most interested, followed by the French (27%), British (26%), Germans (20%) and Dutch (10%).
As for North Americans buyers (21%), they are also the ones most interested in properties between 600,000 and 1 million euros, followed by the Dutch (20%), Germans (16%), Brits (14%) and the French (10%). In the market for luxury homes, valued at over 1 million euros, those most interested in purchasing a home in Loulé were North Americans and Germans (18% for both nationalities), followed by the British (17%), Dutch (15%) and French (7%).
Albufeira: French demand for property leads the way
The Algarve is once again represented in this ranking, with Albufeira in third position of the Portuguese towns with the most foreign interest in properties for sale. The countries that lead the searches, in order of preference, are:
- France
- The United Kingdom
- Switzerland
- Germany
- The Netherlands
The Dutch (76%) mainly looked for properties costing less than 300,000 euros, followed by the French (69%), the Swiss (64%), the British (61%) and the Germans (58%). For homes costing between 300,000 and 600,000 euros, the Swiss (24%) are the most interested, followed by the Germans (23%), the English (21%) and the French (20%).
The Dutch (16%) are those who most seek homes priced between 600,000 and 1 million euros, followed by British buyers (11%), Germans (10%), French (7%) and Swiss buyers (7%). In the luxury residential market, which has houses for sale valued at more than 1 million euros, the Dutch are the most interested (9%), followed by the Germans (8%), the Brits (7%), the Swiss and the French (5% for both nationalities).
Cascais: increasing interest from North Americans
The municipality of Cascais was the fourth most sought after by foreigners to buy a house in Portugal. North Americans top the list, followed by Brazilians, British, Germans and Spanish buyers.
By price range, 28% of Brazilians are searching for properties for less than 300,000 euros, followed by Germans (23%), the British (22%), North Americans (20%) and Spaniards (18%). With regard to houses costing between 300,000 and 600,000 euros, North Americans (32%) are the most interested in buying a house in Cascais, followed by Germans and Brazilians (31% for both nationalities), British buyers (28%) and Spaniards (25%).
North Americans (20%) are once again those who are most looking for houses and villas between 600,000 and 1 million euros, followed by the English and Germans (19% for both nationalities), Spaniards (17%) and Brazilians (16%).
In the luxury residential market (over 1 million euros), the Spanish (40%) are the most interested, followed by British buyers (31%), North Americans and Germans (28% for both nationalities) and Brazilians (25%).
Porto: popular with North Americans, Brazilians and French
According to the idealista study, Porto is the fifth Portuguese municipality with the highest foreign demand for property for sale. North Americans once again top the list and were those who searched most in the city, followed by Brazilian, French, Spanish and German buyers.
Among the houses for sale for less than 300,000 euros, it is the Germans (76%) who lead the demand, followed by the French (72%), Brazilians (71%), Spaniards (64%) and Americans (58%). With regard to homes costing between 300,000 and 600,000 euros, North Americans (25%) are the most interested in buying a home. And right after are the Spanish (20%), Germans (15%), French (14%) and Brazilians (14%).
North Americans (11%) are also those who most look for houses for sale between 600,000 and 1 million euros in the city of Oporto, followed by Brazilians (9%), French (8%), Spanish (8%) and Germans (5%). In the market for luxury homes valued at over 1 million euros, Spaniards are the most interested (8%), followed by Brazilians, Americans and French (6% for the three nationalities) and German buyers (4%).
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