The Best Places in the World
To Buy Real Estate in 2025

by Ronan McMahon

When you look everywhere, you’ll always find opportunity somewhere.

That’s the beauty of being an international real estate scout, and something I learned years ago when I first started out on my overseas adventures.

That’s why I spend so much time on the road. It’s why my team and I spend over $1 million a year on travel and research.

Because there’s no magic trick to finding profitable real estate opportunities…

It takes resources, it takes a network of contacts, and it takes vast amounts of boots-on-the-ground research.

My team and I do it all so you don’t have to…

And this special report—The Best Places in the World to Buy Real Estate in 2025—is designed to be the perfect place for you to start your research.

From the Caribbean coast of Mexico to the historic seaside towns in Portugal, my team and I have dug deep to find places where savvy real estate investors like us can unlock untold opportunities in the next 12 months and beyond.

In 2025, this research has never been more important…

Two years ago, I stood on a golden-sand beach in Los Cabos, Mexico, and announced the start of a special mission for me and my team…

We were going to fan out across the globe and find the “next places.”

In the wake of the pandemic, many of the world’s most popular and desirable destinations—from Cabo to the Costa del Sol in Spain, from Portugal’s Algarve region to Mexico’s Caribbean coast—were seeing huge influxes of not just vacationers, but also digital nomads, snowbirds, young families, part- and full-time remote workers…

As more and more people came and demand for real estate soared, I knew the opportunity would start to spread to new destinations…places off the typical tourist and expat paths.

Across the world, people are looking beyond the obvious and hunting for destinations that offer better-value real estate opportunities. As a result, a whole host of lesser-known towns and cities are on the cusp of exploding into the mainstream.

You’ll see this reflected throughout this special report—The Best Places in the World to Buy Real Estate in 2025.

And whether you’re a complete beginner or an investor with some real estate experience under your belt, finding the right place to buy real estate is the first step in what could be a life-changing journey.

It’s also an opportunity to re-examine your lifestyle and think about how and where you want to live.

Myself, I use my real estate overseas to ensure that I live a life of comfort, where I never need to worry about heating or air conditioning. Where winter is a thing of the past and excellent golf is always nearby.

That’s why, in this report on The Best Places in the World to Buy Real Estate in 2025, I’ve included two types of “real estate play.”

The “investment play” is a pure profit play, where I believe you can earn capital appreciation and/or strong rental yields on the right real estate.

The “lifestyle play” is one where a real estate buy can land you an enviable lifestyle of beautiful weather, leisure, and luxury for incredible value—even if it doesn’t deliver strong returns.

However, our top five places combine the potential for strong investment returns with enviable lifestyle opportunities…perfect.

These are my gold-star locations, and the ones where I consistently find the best deals in terms of profit and pleasure.

Read on for my list of the top 5 best places to buy in 2025…

Wishing you good real estate investing,

Ronan McMahon

What Makes a Place Good for Real Estate Investing?

When you Google the best places in the world to buy real estate, more often than not you’ll get a generic and entirely predictable list of the world’s most expensive destinations.

Think New York…Tokyo…Paris…London…

Not only are these lists uninformative, I believe they are wholly inaccurate.

Prices for best-in-class real estate in global cities like London and New York are often enormous. And that’s before you consider the massive holding costs due to things like high property taxes and homeowners association fees.

Moreover, because these are highly developed markets, the potential to generate rapid capital appreciation and strong rental yields is typically limited.

In other words, most “best of” lists equate best with most expensive…and therefore fail to answer the question.

So, before we go any further, let me explain how I compiled my list and what I mean by “best”…

To select the best destinations in the world to buy real estate for 2025, I considered places that excel in one or more of the following categories:

Relative Value: This can be summarized as “bang for your buck,” or what does your money buy you in this market relative to back home. Most destinations listed here offer excellent value when compared to major markets in the U.S. and Canada. In some, the value is truly exceptional.

Climate: Weather preferences are subjective. Some of us love to experience four seasons every year, while others prefer a climate that remains hot year-round. For this report, higher-scoring destinations are warm and sunny, but not humid. We also made allowances for destinations with temperate climates, since they’re growing in popularity.

International Appeal: This category is a measure of how well-known and popular a destination is with foreign tourists, expats, and the work-from-anywhere, digital nomad crowd. This category also considers how internationalized a market is, covering such factors as flight connections, internet connectivity, and whether visas are required to stay short or long-term and how easy they are to obtain. Most of the destinations in this report scored highly in this category.

Path of Progress Indicator: A “Path of Progress” is anything that makes a place easier to get to (like new roads, airports, or bridges) or more desirable (say, a 5-star resort in a place that previously only had cheap hostels). It can also indicate an influx of people to a destination and the resulting rejuvenation of that place, as we’re seeing in the far north of Portugal. If a Path of Progress is moving toward or through a market, it’s a strong indicator of future growth potential. Buy at the right point in a Path of Progress and you’ll do very well.

Income Potential: This is the amount you can expect to earn from renting out a property short or long-term, relative to the amount invested. Los Cabos and Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Riviera Maya score very highly here as high-end rentals are in huge demand in these markets.

Quality of Life: This category considers the availability of dining, shopping, transportation, healthcare, and entertainment options. Also factored in are natural attractions such as beaches and hiking trails as well as the public infrastructure. For instance, are public spaces and facilities safe, visually appealing, and well-maintained?

Ease and Cost of Transaction: This measures how difficult, time-consuming, and expensive the process of purchasing a property is for overseas buyers.

Stability: This covers political, economic, and social risk. Is the political environment stable and is it likely to remain so? Is the economy strengthening or weakening? Are crime, corruption, or fraud prevalent? Note that scores in this category reflect the particular destination in question, not the country where it is located. That’s because factors like crime levels and economic performance can vary widely within countries.

Availability of Finance: This considers whether it is possible for foreign buyers to borrow against their purchase, and if so, how difficult accessing this credit is, and how favorable the terms are.

Holding Costs: This judges all the costs associated with owning a property in this destination such as local or national property taxes, typical insurance prices, and common ranges for homeowners association fees. For instance, my property tax bill for my new home in Portugal—a 5,000-square-foot historic mansion—will be no more than €320 per year.

I’ve applied these criteria to destinations across my global beat.

My goal: To identify places where you’ll find excellent value and incredible weather and attractions…yet can still earn a lot of money from owning there, in terms of rapid capital appreciation, strong rental income, or both.

The Best Places to Buy Real Estate in 2025

#1: Caminha and the “Undiscovered North” of Portugal

#2: Cap Cana, Dominican Republic

#3: Los Cabos, Mexico

#4: Guanacaste, Costa Rica

#5: Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico

No. 1: Caminha and the “Undiscovered North” of Portugal

The top-ranked destination in my 2025 index is the small town of Caminha in the far north of Portugal.

Located at the mouth of the Minho River that separates Portugal from Spain, this picturesque town has a long and rich history. Walk its cobblestoned lanes and alleys and you’ll see constant reminders of this heritage, from the 15th-century Igreja Matriz de Caminha church to the 13th-century Torre do Relogio clocktower, which stands watch over the town’s main plaza.

And yet despite this abundant history, Caminha today feels modern and upmarket. There are art galleries and boutique hotels, fine-dining restaurants and wine bars. Then just outside town you have a lagoon and Atlantic beaches, bucolic countryside, and excellent hiking.

Caminha has so much to offer, but like other towns and cities in the far north of Portugal, it’s overlooked and undervalued…

Over the past five to 10 years, Portugal has become one of the world’s most popular destinations for vacationers and expats. From Lisbon to the Algarve, from the Silver Coast to Porto, towns and cities across the country are inundated by tourists for long stretches of the year. Real estate prices in the best-known destinations have soared.

But head 30 minutes or so north of Porto, outside the reaches of its extended metropolitan area, and all that fades.

Here, in what I call the “undiscovered north,” you’ll find all the elements that make destinations to the south so appealing—incredible food…soft-sand beaches…rich history and culture. Plus, you have amazing, temperate weather.

But these destinations are virtually unknown to foreign tourists, expats, and second homeowners. And because of this, real estate prices there are astonishingly low in comparison to popular coastal destinations to the south.

Very soon, this region will be discovered. This is the region where tourists and expats will go next in Portugal. And when that happens, I anticipate prices will soar.

But for right now, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It’s as though we have a time machine and can step back to the Algarve region 30 years ago…or the Silver Coast region between Lisbon and Porto 20 years ago…before the explosion in tourist numbers and real estate prices.

Here I’ve zeroed in on Caminha. But there are other destinations in this northern region that similarly have amazing potential, like the coastal city of Viana do Castelo and the river town of Ponte de Lima.

I’ve been singing the praises of this region ever since I first scouted it in summer 2023. Now I’m putting my money where my mouth is.

As I write, I’ve just bought a home in Caminha. This is a stunning, historic mansion. I have a garden where I can see waves crashing on two beaches, one in Portugal, and another in Spain. Inside, this historic home is immaculate, furnished with original pieces that came from Brazil with the first owners at the end of the 1800s. In total, the home spans around 5,000 square feet. But I got it for around €410,000. That’s just $90 per square foot! This demonstrates the insane value you can find here.

There were other advantages to buying here too. Financing is readily available to non-resident foreign buyers in Portugal. For this home, I got a 25-year mortgage with a five-year fixed rate of just 2.9%. Also, as I say, my annual property tax bill for this property will be no more than €320 per year…a tiny number for such a large property.

This undiscovered north of Portugal represents the best real estate investment opportunity in the world today. And the moment is now!

No. 2: Cap Cana, Dominican Republic

I’ve long kept a close eye on the Dominican Republic. After Mexico’s Riviera Maya, this Caribbean destination gets the most tourists in the entire region. And just like Mexico’s Riviera Maya, this country is smashing tourist records.

In 2023, it welcomed more than 10 million travelers…a first for the Dominican Republic. It’s expected to see 11.5 million by the end of 2024. That’s astonishing growth.

Most of these arrivals go to Punta Cana, easily the country’s biggest destination.

Development is tearing ahead in the Punta Cana area now. And this is where you’ll find the vast master-planned coastal community of Cap Cana…

At 30,000 acres, Cap Cana is twice the size of Manhattan. And it’s just 10 minutes from the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana International Airport, with regular flights across Canada and the American Northeast.

Everything in Cap Cana screams luxury.

It’s home to 5-star resorts…the largest inland marina in the Caribbean…world-class golf…incredible fine-dining…state-of-the-art equestrian facilities…

The biggest water park in the Caribbean opened here in 2024, its amphitheater inaugurated by Elton John. There’s also a university campus, convention centers, a fire station, medical and veterinary clinics, high-speed internet, and over 62 miles of paved roads. And the setting is unrivaled.

I’ve never seen sands so white, or waters so quintessentially Caribbean, as at the Juanillo Beach Club in the heart of Cap Cana.

This description “master-planned community” doesn’t do Cap Cana justice. This is a vast semi-autonomous city-state of luxury.

Already, billions of dollars have been spent to build the incredible resorts and facilities in Cap Cana. But this is just the first phase. The plan is to spend billions more.

A highlight of the near future is the $500-million Juanillo Village. This is a lavish project with a Barcelona-inspired shopping street leading down to Juanillo Beach. My team has been told the plan is for art galleries, boutiques, cafés…

Cap Cana is a new city rising in the Caribbean. And for a limited time, there’s an incredible opportunity to own on the ground floor here…

No. 3: Los Cabos, Mexico

Set at the base of the Baja California peninsula, Los Cabos is a thriving boom town of 350,000 people.

This is one of the world’s most popular and desirable destinations. You have the natural beauty of the desert and mountains meeting the sea in dramatic fashion, the perpetually sunny weather, the stunning beaches. Then, lining its shores are luxury resorts and residential communities, world-class golf courses, glistening marinas, high-end malls, and fine-dining restaurants.

Since the pandemic, Cabo has seen a massive influx of people. In 2023, it welcomed a record 3.86 million air passengers. It’s on track to exceed that figure in 2024. Crucially, many of those who are coming are staying longer—for months or even to live permanently.

The kinds of folks coming to Cabo have also been changing…

While Cabo has long been a haven of celebrities and the ultra-wealthy, more recently it has evolved to also attract what I call the “ordinary rich”…think well-heeled vacationers, executives with work-from-anywhere jobs, wealthy snowbirds, and self-made entrepreneurs.

This group doesn’t want to pay millions for homes or thousands per night for a hotel stay, but they want incredible amenities in perfect locations. The arrival of this group has led to a big explosion in demand for good-value real estate in amenity-rich communities in Cabo.

I spend time in Cabo every winter. I’ve invested in six properties here. I live and breathe this real estate market like almost no other, and I’ve observed firsthand as Cabo has hit a whole new level. There are all sorts of restrictions on building here, yet people just keep coming to stay and to live.

I have a club of like-minded investors called Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) and I specialize in finding exclusive, off-market deals for our members. More on that group at the end of this report.  But first, I’ll give you an example of the kind of deals we get…

By leveraging RETA’s group buying power, I’ve been able to bring our members many amazing opportunities in Cabo. For instance, the first RETA deal we had in Cabo was in 2015 in the 5-star Quivira resort. Our RETA-only price on a two-bed ocean-view condo in the best-in-class Copala community was $336,156. I bought one. An identical condo to mine two floors above me later listed for $725,000. That’s $388,844 more.

More examples…

That’s just one example of an incredible run of deals here. But even with our insider connections, deals like these are increasingly hard to find…

Cabo is a destination with immense potential for future growth. But prices have been rising so quickly that we need to be highly selective…find just the right deal at just the right entry price.

No. 4: Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Way back before Costa Rica’s tourist boom, the sunny northwestern province of Guanacaste was a sleepy region of cattle farms, empty beaches, and good surf breaks.

It was also hard to get to. The road from the capital city was in bad shape. It was a bumpy ride that took four or five hours. The alternative was to take a prop plane. Whichever option you took, it set you up for the lack of frills when you arrived.

But a savvy group of hotel and real estate developers could see the appeal of this stunning, endless-summer location. The Four Seasons pumped more than $200 million into carving out a top-quality golf course, rooms and suites, and hillside villas with private plunge pools.

They needed tourists to fill their luxury rooms and pay their premium rates. A bumpy dirt track or a prop plane simply wouldn’t cut it. The road from the capital San José was soon paved, and the airport at Liberia—the provincial capital of Guanacaste just 30 minutes from the coast—was expanded and upgraded. In 2002, regular direct flights to the U.S. started.

This kick-started a stunning transformation on this coast…

In 2003, Liberia airport saw 50,000 passenger arrivals. Last year, the number hit a record 1.65 million. Along the way, the Pacific coast of Guanacaste earned the nickname the “Gold Coast.”

Today, this is one of the world’s true up-and-coming high-end havens. After the Four Seasons came resorts like The Westin at Reserva Conchal, the JW Marriott at Hacienda Pinilla, and Secrets Papagayo. A single night at these resorts can cost thousands of dollars. And new residential communities here, like the Waldorf Astoria, are selling branded residences for millions and even tens of millions of dollars.

In other words, this is no longer a low-cost destination, whether you are buying a home or heading out for dinner.

That said, there is an incredible opportunity here. Demand on the Gold Coast is huge, but development cannot keep up.

Costa Rica is the originator of eco-tourism. It has set aside vast swathes of land as national parks. There are lots of restrictions on development. Permitting is tight.

As a result, supply of best-in-class real estate is low, and short-term rentals are thin on the ground. So by owning the right condo or home here, you can do very well.

In March 2024, I was able to bring RETA members an off-market deal in the beach and marina town of Playa Flamingo. This was our chance to own incredible luxury homes a short walk to two beaches and the brand-new marina that anchors the town.

I bought alongside other RETA members.

In October 2024, the developer told me that two-bed homes similar to those that RETA members could buy for an off-market price of $286,800 were listing for $339,000…an uplift of $52,200 in six months!

No. 5: Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico

For many decades, Playa del Carmen was mostly known as the place to catch the ferry to Cozumel, an island 45 minutes offshore that’s long been popular with scuba divers and snorkelers.

The town of Playa del Carmen itself was little more than a few dusty dirt roads, with rustic accommodations and eateries by the ferry terminal for the few people who decided to stay the night. Think palapas and even livestock roaming around. It was, as one visitor commented, a “one burro (donkey) town.”

But Playa has innate appeal. It boasts glorious white-sand beaches…stunning azure Pacific waters…perfect weather…

As the years passed and the resort destination of Cancún, located an hour north, became busier, tourists started to look for quieter alternatives on Mexico’s Caribbean coast. Services and little businesses began to crop up in Playa del Carmen. A restaurant here…a little tienda there. Playa del Carmen began to transform. Mexicans from other parts of the country and expats from farther afield started to move here.

Over time, the sandy streets gradually got paved. Small boutique hotels opened, as did trendy restaurants, and organic cafés. Development spread quickly along 5th Avenue, which today is the city’s main drag, a miles-long pedestrian street lined with cafés, stores, restaurants, bars, nightclubs…

Like Cancún before it, this sleepy seaside village was transformed into a world-class tourist destination in a matter of decades. But it also followed a different path than Cancún. Instead of most tourists staying in huge resorts on the beach—which they likely never leave—Playa del Carmen is a true, living, breathing city.

It’s the type of place where you can grab an espresso and croissant at a co-working café in the morning…enjoy a lunch of fresh seafood on the beach with your toes in the sand…and have your choice of any number of gourmet options for dinner…with shopping for high-end fashions and artisan creations mixed in—not to mention relaxing spa treatments.

Playa del Carmen is hip and chic. And it’s maturing into a sophisticated, upscale destination increasingly drawing a well-heeled clientele with money to spend.

It’s also a favorite of Americans, Canadians, and Europeans, not to mention Latin Americans and Mexicans from other parts of the country. And it has an enduring appeal to diverse markets, from vacationing families and couples of all ages, to groups of friends, snowbirds spending the winter season south of the border, expats, remote workers…

Vacation rentals are in demand pretty much year-round. As my contacts on the ground have told me: “There just doesn’t seem to be a true low season anymore.”

In other words, Playa del Carmen is not a second Cancún. It’s something entirely different. This is a true beach city where people want to come and live year-round. That means Playa del Carmen has a very bright future. Prices will continue to push higher here. Find the right real estate at the right price in Playa del Carmen and you’ll do very well.

Playa remains a key destination on my global beat. It’s a place where I’m constantly hunting for the right deals.

A final point on Playa del Carmen…

Here, as in many places on my global beat, Holding Costs are exceptionally low by U.S. standards. Consider annual property taxes. They typically cost less than $500 per year for a primary residence…a tiny fraction of what you’d pay on equivalent real estate in the U.S.