The sale of houses in Portugal to non-residents, foreigners, and Portuguese emigrants has been falling for three years. However, interest in the country remains high.
It is considered a haven for living and investing, especially in times of global uncertainty like those currently being experienced, notably caused by the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
Proof of this is that the demand for houses to buy in Portugal from abroad continues to be very significant in major cities. The USA and the UK are the main sources of international demand, as shown by the most recent data from idealista.
Following the implementation of several national policies, at the legal and fiscal levels, in 2025, non-residents were responsible for the acquisition of 8,471 homes, representing a 13.3% decrease compared to the previous year, as recently revealed by the National Institute of Statistics.
These figures reflect the reduction in tax incentives for this type of buyer, such as the end of golden visas for real estate investment and the replacement of the non-habitual resident regime with a more restrictive one, carried out by the previous socialist government of António Costa.
Added to this is the new immigration law of the current AD government of Luís Montenegro, which is already in force, along with the revision to the nationality law that is still under analysis in Belém by the new President of the Republic, António José Seguro.
However, despite the decline in completed transactions, the most recent data from idealista/data reveals that interest in homes for sale in Portugal from abroad was quite significant in the first quarter of 2026, representing double digits in most major cities (Évora is the only exception).
In other words, non-resident families and investors continue to show interest in the country’s residential market, which continues to be seen as a safe bet during times of social, political, and economic turbulence like the present.
International visits to listings of homes for sale were most significant in Funchal (Madeira Island) and Ponta Delgada (São Miguel Island, Azores) (30% and 27%, respectively). One in five searches for properties advertised on the idealista portal comes from abroad in Viana do Castelo, Faro, Braganza, and Castelo Branco (approximately 20% of total demand in each city).
In the middle of the table is the municipality of Porto, with international interest in houses for sale accounting for 15% of total demand.
In Lisbon, visits from abroad represent 13%. Évora, Santarém, Beja, and Coimbra are the Portuguese cities with the lowest proportion of international visits to houses for sale (between 9% and 11%), according to the same data.
Therefore, in all 20 major cities analysed, the demand for housing to buy is primarily driven by Portugal, and can be carried out by Portuguese citizens, immigrants, digital nomads, and others.
1st place for international visits to homes for sale dominated by the USA and the UK
What is also important to know is where these visits from abroad to homes for sale in Portuguese cities come from. It is immediately apparent that the USA and the UK received the top spot in 12 of the 20 major cities analyzed (six each), according to data from idealista/data relating to the first quarter of 2026:
The USA has the greatest weight in international visits to homes for sale in Ponta Delgada (35%), Aveiro (15%), Braga, Lisbon, Coimbra and Évora (14% of the total international visits in each city).
The UK is in first place for visits from abroad to homes for sale in six other major cities (Funchal, Faro, Castelo Branco, Setúbal, Beja and Santarém).
Visits from France lead the international search for houses to buy in Viana do Castelo, Bragança, Guarda, and Leiria. In Porto and Portalegre, the leading foreign country in international searches is Spain. And in Viseu and Vila Real, visits are mainly from Switzerland.
Therefore, the greatest curiosity or desire to buy a house in Lisbon comes from those searching from the USA (14%), followed by Spain (11%) and France (10%). In Porto, international visits originate mainly from Spain (18%), the USA (14%), and France (10%).
It is also quite evident that, from the analysis of the ranking of the 20 major cities analyzed, it can be concluded that the top 3 nationalities alone represent more than a third of the total foreign visits to houses for sale advertised on idealista during this period.
Source: Idealista/INE; Credits: Gary Walker-Jones for Unsplash
