Market · Investment
27 August 2026 · Rafaella Galardo
Banco de Portugal has published the foreign investment figures for the first half of 2026. There is good news and a nuance that deserves to be told honestly. Let us look at both — and, above all, at what this changes for anyone who owns a home on the Cascais coastline.
Foreign direct investment — shortened to FDI — is money that comes from outside Portugal to buy things here with a lasting intention. It is not money that comes in today and leaves tomorrow.
It could be a French company buying a factory in Aveiro. It could be a Spanish fund buying an office building in Lisbon. It could be a German couple buying a house in Estoril.
It is called "direct" because the investor ends up with a concrete, lasting position — a property, a stake in a company — rather than simply buying and selling shares day by day.
Two words always come up in these figures and they confuse a lot of people. The explanation is simple if you think of a bathtub.
When you read "€6.7 billion came in", that is the flow for the half-year. When you read "the stock is €225.1 billion", that is everything foreign investors already hold in Portugal, added together.
According to Banco de Portugal:
Mainly from Europe. Investors resident in European countries invested the most, with two standing out:
These amounts were partly offset by the reduction from Luxembourg (-€4.6 billion). In other words, a lot came in from France and Spain, but a good deal went out via Luxembourg — and that is why the net total lands at €6.7 billion.
Far less. Direct investment from Portugal abroad was only €0.2 billion in the half-year.
In the accumulated totals, the difference is even starker:
Portugal receives far more investment than it places abroad. It is a country that attracts.
A great deal, in practice. Cascais, Estoril and Monte Estoril are among the favourite destinations of people buying in Portugal from abroad — and the two countries that invested most this half-year are precisely the ones we see most often on our viewings: France and Spain.
This means that, when you sell, your buyer may well not be Portuguese. And an international buyer has different requirements:
A home prepared for this audience reaches more people. And more people seeing the home almost always means better terms in the negotiation.
The reading is the reverse, and it needs to be said frankly: in the most sought-after areas, you will face international competition. On properties with a sea view, a garden or a good location near the coast, it is common to have more than one interested party.
What makes the difference is not having more money — it is being prepared before the others. Having the financing approved, the paperwork ready and your price limit set allows you to respond in days rather than weeks. See the properties available and prepare your search in advance.
There are three steps that confuse almost everyone buying in Portugal for the first time, and that are worth handling early:
You can see the general terms on our financing page.
We support foreign buyers from the first contact to the deed — including guidance on the NIF, fiscal representation and financing, and coordination with the client's own lawyer where there is one. We work in several languages, because most of our buyers are not Portuguese.
And for those selling, that brings a direct advantage: your property is presented to an international audience, with materials prepared for people deciding from a distance.
Before real estate, I spent more than 15 years in tax and contract law. In an international purchase, where documentation and deadlines are everything, that background makes a difference every day.
Source: Casa Yes (27-08-2026). General information only. Every case should be analysed individually.
Newsletter