Britons and Americans among top foreign buyers of luxury homes in Portugal

There are thousands of luxury homes for sale in Portugal. And it’s actually the Portuguese themselves who are leading the demand for premium properties in the country, with prices starting at over one million euros. Despite the current reduction in tax incentives, international buyers continue to play a significant role in the luxury property market, particularly the British and Americans.

Demand for premium homes for sale in Portugal reached one of its highest levels in the past six years towards the end of last year, as we explain here. And 2025 has started strong, with Portuguese buyers accounting for the vast majority of this interest (73%), according to data from idealista/data.

Foreigners also make up a notable share of the demand for luxury homes in Portugal, representing 27% of the total in the first quarter of 2025. This highlights the continued international interest in purchasing high-end properties in the country, even after the impact of the end of tax incentives for investing, living, and working in Portugal. These include the termination of golden visas for property investment at the end of 2023, and the non-habitual resident scheme at the beginning of last year (which was replaced by a more restrictive alternative).

It is precisely in the Portuguese islands where international buyers show the greatest interest in luxury homes for sale — particularly in Ponta Delgada, on the island of São Miguel (Azores), and in Funchal, on the island of Madeira — where they account for over 40% of total demand. There is also strong interest in Faro, with four in ten people searching for premium properties coming from abroad.

In both Lisbon and Porto, however, only around one in five potential buyers of luxury homes are foreign. In other words, demand for properties priced above one million euros in Portugal’s two largest cities is largely driven by Portuguese buyers.

Who are the foreign buyers most interested in luxury homes in Portugal?

When analysing the origins of international demand for luxury homes for sale in Portugal, it becomes clear that the strongest interest at the start of this year came from the United Kingdom, accounting for 15% of all foreign interest, according to the same data.

The United States ranks second, with American buyers representing 13.1% of the international demand for premium properties in Portugal in early 2025. This suggests that wealthy Americans, along with Portuguese emigrants living in the US, continue to keep a close eye on the Portuguese property market — especially at a time when the trade war sparked by tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump has increased global and domestic uncertainty.

International demand for high-end homes in Portugal from Germany, Spain, France, and the Netherlands ranges between 10% and 5.5% of total foreign interest. Brazil appears in seventh place, accounting for less than 5% of demand in the luxury residential market.

In the municipality of Lisbon, the most significant demand for luxury homes comes from buyers based in the USA, Spain, the UK, and Brazil. Meanwhile, in the municipality of Porto, international interest is led by those living in the USA, Spain, and France.

On the Portuguese islands, there is strong interest from Germany, the UK, and the USA in luxury properties for sale in Funchal. In Ponta Delgada, the highest levels of international demand come from the USA, Canada, and Germany.