Why Wealthy Americans Are Snapping Up Homes in Portugal’s Algarve
Affluent Americans are saying olá to Portugal’s Algarve.
The real estate market in the country’s southernmost region is booming, with more and more deep-pocketed U.S. buyers purchasing property across the pond. Prices for high-end homes in the Algarve have increased by more than 30 percent in the past year, according to data collected by British real estate firm Savills and cited by Bloomberg.
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The uptick in sales is largely due to the massive influx of tourists in the European nation, the Savills agents say. U.S. travelers are flocking to Portugal in record numbers, with more than 1 million Americans visiting the country in the first half of 2024 alone.
“The top of the property market in the Algarve has historically been predominantly British buyers, but it’s changing,” Kerstin Buechner, co-owner of Quinta Properties, the Savills affiliate in the region, told Bloomberg.
Americans represented less than 1 percent of buyers for high-end homes in the Algarve before the pandemic, but now account for what Buechner has deemed a “substantial percentage.” The Portuguese Property Association has reported that 10 percent of all foreign buyers in the country are American, Bloomberg notes.
The international set is also driving up property prices in the region. (Check out this plush $9.7 million mansion, for instance.) The first record-setting sale of over €20 million (roughly $22 million) occurred in 2022, but Buechner says Quinta Properties has since sold multiple abodes in that price range. The average cost of an upscale pad listed with Quinta Properties jumped from less than €3 million ($3.3 million) in 2022 to €3.5 million ($3.9 million) in 2023.
Portugal does plenty to woo foreign buyers, too. The country’s digital nomad program means that remote workers from outside the European Union can live in Portugal if they have a monthly income of at least €3,280 (about $3,620) and savings of at least €9,840 ($10,850). The nation also offers “golden visas” to foreigners who invest at least €500,000 ($551,300) in Portuguese investment funds. (You can also invest in the arts, research projects, or local businesses to gain residency.) The country’s sandy beaches, sunny weather, and stable politics are also big selling points.
“It’s not just about the golden visas,” Buechner explains. “Americans are coming into Portugal because they’re fed up with the United States and want a different lifestyle. The Algarve offers that.”
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