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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Green list Portugal - enquiries surge as buyers make plans to travel overseas

Findings from Rightmove suggest that pent-up demand from home-hunters wanting to buy a home in Portugal has finally started to be released, following the news that the country is to be added to the green list of countries for quarantine-free travel from May 17.  

When comparing the weekend of April 24-25 with the most recent weekend (May 8-9), enquiries sent via Rightmove to estate agents in Portugal increased by 93%, while searches for homes in the country rose by more than half (51%).

Unsurprisingly, the Algarve – a perennial favourite of British holidaymakers and second home owners – has proven to be the most popular with Brits looking to purchase property in Portugal, with the tourist-friendly resort of Albufeira the most enquired about destination in the country over the last weekend.

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The most popular property type in Albufeira was apartments, as people consider buying a holiday home that they then may be able to rent out for the rest of the year. For a one or two-bedroom apartment in Albufeira, the average asking price is a very affordable €150,000, while for those looking for a bigger home, the average asking price on Rightmove of a family villa in the resort is currently just over €462,800.

The second and third most popular locations on Rightmove are more expensive, with would-be buyers met with an asking price for a family villa in Carvoiero of €677,222, while in Vale do Lobo – a sought-after area of the Golden Triangle - the average family villa could set you back just under €1.5 million.

Many prospective buyers will be closely following announcements from Portugal over the coming days to ensure they can be confident that they are able to travel, with the Portuguese government set to announce on May 16 (one day before England’s green list comes into place) whether or not the country will be opened up to non-essential travel.

At the moment, it’s still only residents and those travelling for essential reasons who can enter Portugual.

“We’ve seen traffic on Rightmove Overseas growing in many of our key markets over the past few months as potential buyers, whose overseas property searches have been stalled due to the various lockdowns, are preparing for international travel to resume,” Rightmove’s overseas insights manager Rachel Beaton commented.

“This pent-up demand in terms of the number of searches carried out and the amount of time spent viewing overseas properties has finally been unleashed in Portugal with enquiries to Portuguese agents about viewing properties increasing over the past week as headlines began to suggest that Portugal would be on the initial ‘green list’.”

She added: “These rumours were proved true on Friday evening [May 7], and email enquiries were 93% higher this weekend [May 8/9] compared to two weeks ago before the rumours started to circulate.”

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