International demand for housing in Portugal remains high, but transactions carried out by non-residents — foreigners and emigrants — continue to fall for the third consecutive year, according to official data and data from the idealista portal.
According to the National Statistics Institute, in 2025 non-residents acquired 8,471 homes, a reduction of 13.3% compared to 2024. The decline is largely attributed to the legal and fiscal changes introduced in the last year of the previous Executive, namely the end of golden visas for real estate investment and the tightening of the regime for non-habitual residents, as well as the new law on foreigners approved by the current Government and the review of the nationality law still under consideration by the President of the Republic.
Despite the decrease in sales, interest in properties in Portugal from abroad remained significant in the first quarter of 2026, according to data from idealista/data.
In percentage terms, international visits to advertisements represented double-digit percentages in most of the 20 large cities analyzed — with the exception of Évora — reflecting the perception of the country as a safe destination to live and invest in times of global uncertainty.
The highest international search rates were in Funchal (Madeira) and Ponta Delgada (São Miguel, Azores), with 30% and 27% of views, respectively. Cities such as Viana do Castelo, Faro, Bragança and Castelo Branco recorded around 20% of demand coming from abroad. In Porto, the weight of international visits was 15% of the total, while in Lisbon it was 13%. The lowest incidences were observed in Évora, Santarém, Beja and Coimbra (between 9% and 11%).
In the set of 20 cities, the majority of searches for properties continue to originate in national territory, but, among international views, the USA and the United Kingdom stand out, and each led the origin of visits in six cities. The USA had greater weight in the searches for Ponta Delgada (35%), Aveiro (15%), Braga, Lisbon, Coimbra and Évora (14% each). The United Kingdom was the main origin of visits to Funchal, Faro, Castelo Branco, Setúbal, Beja and Santarém.
There are other nationalities that dominate regional markets. This is the case of France, which led in Viana do Castelo, Bragança, Guarda and Leiria. Spain was the main source of consultations in Porto and Portalegre and Switzerland stood out in Viseu and Vila Real. In Lisbon, international research originates mainly from the USA (14%), Spain (11%) and France (10%), while in Porto, Spain (18%), USA (14%) and France (10%) are the most relevant.
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