Rich Americans flock to Portugal’s Algarve, sparking home sales frenzy
Property prices have risen over 30 per cent in the past year, driven by a surge in US buyers seeking a new lifestyle
The Algarve, the sunny southern coast of Portugal, is more popular than ever with visitors, and the region’s housing market is booming as a result. Real estate agency Savills says that in the past year, prices for prime properties in the Algarve have risen by more than 30 per cent.
Agents say the tourism wave is pushing up purchases, especially by US buyers who are heading to the country in record numbers: over one million tourists from the US visited Portugal in the first half of 2024, nearly double the number of visitors in the same time period in 2022, according to the country’s national statistics agency.
Visitors flock, in particular, to the Algarve – home to under 500,000 residents – for its famous sandy beaches, scenic fishing towns and year-round temperate weather. Starting in 2025, United Airlines will have a direct flight from Newark to the town of Faro, the gateway to the region.
“The top of the property market in the Algarve has historically been predominantly British buyers, but it’s changing,” says Kerstin Buechner, co-owner of Quinta Properties, the Savills affiliate in the region.
She says Americans went from less than 1 per cent of buyers for high-end homes in the Algarve pre-pandemic to become what she calls a “substantial percentage” today. According to the Portuguese Property Association, 10 per cent of all foreign buyers in the country are American. “If you walk around Loulé, every second person is American now,” she says. “It’s unbelievable.”
Tourists with the stronger dollar are having an impact on prices. The first sale of over €20 million, a record for the region, took place in 2022, and Buechner says Quinta Properties has now since sold several properties at this level. Prime supply is tight as a result, especially in the popular areas of Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo.
