U.S. Buyers Have Found an Affordable, Picturesque Haven in Lisbon

Time：2024-08-01 Click：

The city’s cost of living has attracted a deluge of digital nomads in addition to luxury home buyers
By Zoe Rosenberg
Originally Published July 24, 2024
All photos courtesy of Getty Images, unless otherwise noted
Sunny, charming Lisbon just might be Western Europe’s most slept-on capital city.
With centuries of history and a low cost of living compared to other major metros in the U.S. and Europe, Lisbon is just starting to win global attention for all it has to offer.
Jasper Veelenturf, co-founder of real estate agency Lisbon Estates, which caters to expats and foreign investors, said Lisbon has “all the benefits of living in South Europe: great climates, fantastic foods, and it’s one of the safest capitals in Europe as well.”
Boundaries
Mainland Europe’s westernmost capital city, Lisbon sits just off the Atlantic Ocean, on the Tagus River, toward the lower middle of the country’s 586 miles of Atlantic coastline.
The city is roughly hemmed in by the Tagus River to the south and east, the Parque Florestal de Monsanto—a more than 371-acre public park—to the southwest, and stretches up to Humberto Delgado Airport, the country’s main international airport, to the north.
“Our geographical position is very strategic to all countries,” said Fàbio Coentrão, a real estate agent with Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty. It’s close to European countries like Spain and France, and also strategic to global destinations like Brazil and the United States, he said.
The 39-square-mile metropolis is also known as the city of seven hills and provides sweeping vistas from neighborhoods like Chiado, a favorite for American buyers.

Price Range
Properties in Lisbon run the gamut from petite studio fixer-uppers starting around €85,000 (US$91,700) to multi-floor finished apartments with prices topping out around €9 million.
In Castillo, a four-bedroom flat with water views and traditional Portuguese tiling on the walls is seeking €4.8 million.
A completely updated apartment in the trendy neighborhood of Chiado that’s made up of two combined duplexes with eight bedrooms and an outdoor space with a small pool is currently listed for €9 million.
Óscar Baptista, a senior consultant with Engel & Völkers in Lisbon, said that Americans are looking primarily for apartments with three bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, large living rooms and outdoor spaces. The price range for apartments like that start around €1 million and top out around €2.5 million, he said.
Housing Stock
Like many dense cities, Lisbon’s housing stock is made up mostly of apartments with standalone homes and mansions relegated to the Lisbon suburbs in places like Cascais, Veelenturf said.
“In Lisbon itself, we don't really have houses. It’s big apartments,” Veelenturf said. “You do see that some wealthy families live in a complete apartment building.”
He added that most of the buildings in Lisbon’s city center look historic because there are very strict rules about maintaining the facades of historic buildings. However, he said, it’s possible to rebuild and renovate behind the facades. 
Between the facade mandate and a desire for properties to reflect the area’s history, a lot of apartments maintain their charm on the inside as well, from ornate and intricate wood-beamed ceilings to original wood floors.
“Most people who look for a place to live in Lisbon, they don’t want modern buildings,” Baptista said. “It’s not what they seek because you can find it everywhere.”
More than 80% of his transactions are in older buildings, he said, because “they keep the charm, they keep what was there from many years ago.”
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
Sotheby's International Realty; Photo: António Moutinho
What Makes It Unique
Sure, there are hundreds of beaches to choose from nearby, including the surf reserve of Ericeira—one of 12 protected surf spots in the world—about an hour drive from Lisbon, but the real stunner in this corner of Portugal is the cost of living.
“Everybody who just arrived in Portugal from abroad will notice the cost of living is cheaper than many other countries in Europe,” Baptista said.
According to Numbeo, a website that provides crowdsourced statistics from cities across the world, Lisbon ranks No. 50 in Europe in terms of cost of living, behind Madrid, Rome, Vienna and Berlin. Numbeo estimates that Lisbon is about 50% less expensive to live in than New York, not including the cost of rent.
Lisbon also ranks as one of the safest major cities in Europe—No. 36, according to Numbeo—behind destinations like the Hague, Munich, and Reykjavik.
The people of Lisbon are also a plus, Veelenturf said.
“What I think is great about Lisbon itself, what makes it unique compared to other cities in Spain or in Italy, for example, is that the Portuguese people are very welcoming to tourists and to expats,” Veelenturf said, adding that “the majority of them speak English very well.”
Lisbon also experiences over 300 days of sun per year and has a mild climate with hot summers. Good thing the ocean is never too far.

Luxury Amenities
Lisbon’s growing tourism scene has opened the door to world-class dining and experiences. 
“If you want to go on a boat and have a sunset tour, you can have that very easily. If you want to go to a rooftop to finish your day with a drink and amazing views of the city, you have amazing rooftops to explore,” Coentrão said. “I think this kind of lifestyle is what makes Lisbon very attractive.”
Add to that its 17 Michelin-starred restaurants, including two-star spots Alma and Belcanto, the highest-ranking in the city. 
Alma by chef Henrique Sá Pessoa serves up elegant Portuguese cuisine behind the facade of an 18th-century building that was once a location for Bertrand bookstore, recognized as the world’s oldest purveyor of books still in operation (albeit now at a different location in the city.)
Belcanto by chef José Avillez, in the popular Chiado neighborhood, has a menu “influenced by Lisbon’s different light, its maritime shoreline and its distinct districts,” per the Michelin guide.
Areas Where Americans Are Concentrated in Town
Avenida da Liberdade, a street designed after the famous boulevards of Paris and with luxury shopping on par with the Champs-Élysées, is a focal point for American luxury buyers, the agents said.
The area has “very comfortable apartments and everybody wants to live there,” Coentrão said. “It’s just a matter of, can you afford it?”
He said apartments on Avenida da Liberdade range from about €9,000 per square meter (about US$902 per square foot) to €15,000 per square meter.
In the bordering and also popular Príncipe Real neighborhood, unrenovated apartments start around €5,000 per square meter and prices go up to €10,000 per square meter for renovated apartments, Veelenturf said.
Chiado wins tourists and expats alike with its booming cultural scene. Coentrão said it’s one of the best neighborhoods to taste Portuguese delicacies, like pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts) and its popularity is reflected in its real estate prices, with apartments starting around €6,000 per square meter and topping out around €10,000 per square meter.
Estrela is a hot spot for digital nomads, Veelenturf said, with Coentrão adding that it’s “one of the most noble areas” with some big historic palaces and public gardens including Jardim da Estrela and Jardim dos Cactos.
Although not in Lisbon proper, the seaside village of Cascais, about 20 minutes from the city, is winning American buyers with its charming cobbled streets and clear blue waters, the agents said. Notably, Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is building a huge new home there.
Outlook
In Lisbon, demand for homes is higher than what’s available for locals, expats and investors alike.
“We are receiving so many requests from foreign investors as the market is so dynamic,” Baptista said. “We have times that we need to tell our clients to wait a little bit while we do our research and try to find the best place for them, because we don't have them available.”

He said that at the end of 2023, more than 10,000 Americans resided in Portugal.
He added, “This just shows that it’s a place where foreign persons want to come, to stay, to live and to enjoy—not just the city, but the whole country.”
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