More Americans investing in real estate in Portugal says Keller Williams

The post-Covid period and political instability created by the return of Donald Trump to the White House has led to an increase in middle class Americans emigrating to Portugal and transferring the real estate investments to the country.

This is according to Marco Tairum, CEO of US estate agency chain Keller Williams Portugal in an interview with Jornal Económico.

The comment was made as Keller Williams Portugal saw €17 million of transactions in the first three months of the year – up 23% like-for-like on 2024.

The start of this year saw the estate agency chain expand to the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

“Portuguese clients continue to be our main buyers in our residential segment. We do have a luxury division but it’s not our main business. I would say 95% of our transactions come from Portuguese clients.

However, the head of Keller Williams Portugal adds that they had seen a growing number of overseas clients and within these an increase in US buyers over the past two years. The increase in Americans was down to political instability in the US but also because as an American estate agency it has been able to leverage on KW’s network of estate agents and agencies in the US.

There has been a great increase in interest from US customers, which began, perhaps, four or five years ago in a first wave, but which was very much in line with what the typical foreign client was, regardless of their nationality.

In other words, people looking for investments or holiday homes. But at the moment, especially in the post-Covid and post-Trump era, we are also seeing the US middle classes looking to either emigrate to our country or transfer part of their wealth, savings, and real estate investments to Portugal, taking into account the projected instability and lower profitability estimated for the United States in the coming years.

“It’s been an interesting phenomenon to see. It began with the traditional client from the upper income range but now we’re seeing a lot more middle class Americans coming to Portugal with some of them taking out mortgages in Portugal because while the process is slower they often end up getting more favorable conditions on their loans,” says Marco Tairum.

“We’re also seeing demand from French and Brazilian clients on a par with demand from US buyers, followed by nationalities that have traditionally invested in the Portuguese market, namely English, German, Angolan and some Eastern customers. But in recent years, clearly, there has been a large wave of French and, above all, American clients”, concludes Marco Tairum, CEO of Keller Williams Portugal.