Portugal is still in the sights of international property investors, despite recent legislative changes that put an end to golden visas and the non-habitual resident (RNH) scheme. This is the conclusion presented by Knight Frank, which places Portugal among the top 10 favourite countries for buying luxury homes in 2024.
International investors were asked in this study in which countries they would be most likely to buy a new home in 2024. They indicated that they were 3.8 per cent more likely to buy luxury homes in Portugal, placing the country in ninth place in a ranking of 10 countries.
It is in the UK that international investors are most likely to buy a new home this year (17.7 per cent), followed by the USA (9.8 per cent) and France (7.2 per cent). There are also other southern European countries besides Portugal in this top 10: Spain and Italy, which are, incidentally, ranked higher.
In 2023, 800 luxury housing investors were counted, up 3 per cent on the previous year. By 2028, the outlook is for Portugal to attract 1,000 investors, which represents a 25 per cent increase on last year. This is because Portugal continues to be seen abroad as a country that offers stability and security.
These foreign investors looking for luxury homes in Portugal come from various countries. For example, the Algarve is most sought after by the British, Irish and northern European markets. And the Lisbon and Cascais markets are seeing an increase in demand from American and Brazilian investors.
Luxury house prices in the Algarve rose 12.3% in 2023 compared to the previous year, the fourth highest increase among the 100 cities analysed. In Porto, prices rose by 5 per cent and in Lisbon by 2.2 per cent. But the high cost of housing in these regions is unlikely to influence demand from wealthy foreign investors, and demand is even expected to grow this year.
