The sale of houses in Portugal to non-residents, foreigners, and Portuguese emigrants has been declining 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 such as those currently being experienced, caused in particular 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 remains very strong in major cities. The USA and the UK are the main sources of international searches, as shown by the most recent data from idealista.
Following the implementation of several national policies 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. This data reflects the reduction of 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, implemented by the previous socialist government of António Costa.
Added to this is the new immigration law of the current AD government of Luís Montenegro. This is already in effect, alongside the revision of the nationality law that is still under analysis in Belém by the new President, 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. In other words, non-resident families and investors continue to show interest in the country’s residential market, which is seen as a safe bet during times of social, political, and economic turbulence like the present.
In Funchal (Madeira Island) and Ponta Delgada (São Miguel Island, Azores), international visits to listings of houses for sale had the greatest impact (30% and 27%, respectively).
One in five searches for properties advertised on the idealista portal comes from abroad in Viana do Castelo, Faro, Bragança, and Castelo Branco (approximately 20% of the total search volume 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. And 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 comes primarily from Portugal, and can be driven by Portuguese citizens as well as immigrants, digital nomads, and others.
Top spots for international visits to homes for sale: the USA and the UK
It’s also important to know where these visits from abroad come from. It’s immediately apparent that the USA and the UK each received first place in 12 of the 20 major cities analysed (six each), according to data from idealista/data relating to the first quarter of 2026:
- The US accounts for the largest share of 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 United Kingdom ranks first in 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 foreign country that leads international searches is Spain. And in Viseu and Vila Real, visits are mainly made from Switzerland.
Therefore, the greatest curiosity or desire to buy a house in Lisbon comes from those researching 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%).
What is also quite evident is that, based on the analysis of the ranking of the 20 major cities analysed, it can be concluded that the top 3 nationalities alone represent more than a third of the total foreign visits to homes for sale advertised on idealista during this period.
