- The #1 Destination for Real Estate Investment in Europe
- Dream Homes on Portugal’s “Hidden Coast”
- Beach Houses in Uruguay from $55,000
- Plus, Your Questions Answered
Last week I was on Portugal’s Silver Coast…this week I’m in southern Ireland…next week I’m in the Loire Valley in France…
This is the life of international real estate scout. And it’s a lifestyle I love…
I travel light and fast. I put my boots on the ground all over the world, or toes in the sand, depending on where I am. I’m always looking for the next opportunities…
The Loire Valley is known as “the Valley of the Kings.” You can barely drive more than a mile or two there without seeing a stunning chateau, church or splendid garden. I’ll be scouting there next week…
I’ll be sharing updates from Ireland and France in the weeks ahead.
Today, though, I want to focus another aspect of my lifestyle…
One of the great benefits of being an international real estate scout is that it gives me the chance to base myself wherever I want in the world. At the moment, I’m at my home in Ireland. But that will change with the season…
I spend time every winter at my condo in Cabo, Mexico. When spring rolls around in the Northern Hemisphere, I fly across the Atlantic Ocean to my condo on Portugal’s Silver Coast. Then for high summer I hop over to my primary home in Ireland where I make time to catch up with family and friends.
I do this because I’ve made it my goal to live a life free of extreme temperatures. No heating or air conditioning. No sweating or shivering.
Increasingly, these preferences are becoming the norm.
There was a time when most renters and second home owners in the world’s top destinations wanted essentially two things—hot, sunny weather…and a beach to lie on, or a pool to sit beside. But those days are fading…
The next generation of migrations want the sun, but we also want temperatures and a landscape that are conducive to being active and outdoors for longer periods.
This is leading to growing demand for real estate in more temperate destinations…
More temperature destinations, such as the historic city of Braga in northern Portugal, have been growing in popularity as people increasingly seek places where you can be active outdoors for longer.
The benefits of a temperate climate have been on my mind lately, which is why this week’s articles in Overseas Dream Home were devoted to Portugal and Uruguay.
Though they’re half a world away, these two countries have more in common than you might imagine. Both are safe, stable, and beautiful. And both have lots of destinations with wonderful, mild, spring-like climates for large parts of the year.
Below, you’ll find a brief wrap-up of some of the opportunities and reports I’ve shared with you about Portugal and Uruguay over the past week in Your Overseas Dream Home.
Also, I answer a question from a reader on climate-friendly golf destinations for retirees. (Have a question or comment…I’d love to hear it. Click here to share it now.)
The #1 Destination for Real Estate Investment in Europe
Located in the far north of Portugal, the small, charming town of Caminha has a perfect temperate climate, with summer temperatures typically ranging from 68 F to 77 F.
I count this town among my best recent discoveries. Caminha is about an hour’s drive north of Portugal’s second city, Porto, and is separated from Spain by only a river. Caminha offers an enviable lifestyle. You’ll find a charming Old Town with excellent dining options. You’re on a river and near the Atlantic Ocean. You can be in Spain in less than 30 minutes and the historic Spanish city of Vigo in about an hour. And Porto’s international airport is about a similar distance south along excellent roads.
Caminha is exactly the kind of place people have been flocking to…a destination with plenty of space, where you can live a relaxing outdoor lifestyle.
Yet, looking at real estate listings in Caminha feels like stepping into a time machine, as if the global real estate boom of the last several years never happened. That’s why I named it my #2 destination in the world for real estate investment in 2024, and the top one in Europe. (Check out the full list here.)
This week my team were digging into real estate listings in Caminha and they found condos and homes with river views from prices like $160,000. Read the article here for all the details.
Torre do Relogio, a 13th-century clocktower, sits at one end of Caminha’s historic town square.
Dream Homes on Portugal’s “Hidden” Coast
Before traveling to Ireland, I’d spent a week at my condo in the Praia D’El Rey Golf and Beach Resort on Portugal’s Silver Coast.
This is an amazing place to own real estate…
The beaches here are long, wild, and sandy—ideal for walkers. The world’s surfers gather here to ride waves the size of a multi-story buildings. And you’ll also find amazing fishing, hiking, and paddleboarding right on your doorstep, alongside world-class golf courses and incredible restaurants.
Unlike Lisbon, Porto or the southern Algarve region, the Silver Coast was not an internationally well-known destination. In fact, this region was once so little-known outside Portugal, it was virtually “hidden” to foreign buyers and vacationers. No longer…
Since I bought my condo here several years ago, this temperate, wind-swept region of Atlantic coastline has seen an influx of foreign buyers and renters.
And yet, you’ll still find incredible dream homes in best-in-class communities here at reasonable prices. Earlier this week, I shared examples of homes on the market in my Praia D’El Rey Golf and Beach Resort from just €295,000. Check out this article here for all the details.
The Silver Coast boasts long, wind-swept Atlantic beaches…perfect for walking and surfing. This region has been growing in popularity among foreign buyers as they look for quieter and more temperate alternatives away from Lisbon and the Algarve.
Coastal Homes in “the Portugal of South America” from $55,000
Uruguay is sometimes referred to as “the Switzerland of South America” but I prefer to think of it as “the Portugal of South America.”
Uruguay is wedged in between Argentina to the west and Brazil to the east, with Paraguay to the north. This tiny nation is the wealthiest (per capita) in South America, according to the World Bank.
Like Portugal, Uruguay has windswept Atlantic beaches, temperate coastal regions, a stable economy and political situation, and well-developed infrastructure. In fact, it even has its own version of Portugal’s Silver Coast….
If you follow the Path of Progress along the coast from the glamorous beach city of Punta del Este, you’ll arrive at Rocha, a region with 110 miles of coast lined almost entirely with beaches.
As in Caminha and the Silver Coast, those in the know are looking at real estate in Rocha. But for the moment, prices there remain remarkably affordable…
My researchers found homes near the beach from just $55,000. Click here to get all the details.
The coast of Rocha in Uruguay is wind-swept and beautiful. This is another temperate destination that’s been seeing a growing influx of expats and second-home owners.
Questions and Feedback
Have a question or comment? Share it here. Here’s one I got from an Overseas Dream Home reader:
Charlie B. asks: Do you have a list of affordable, climate-friendly, full- or part-year golf destinations for retirees? A reference source for research would be appreciated.
Ronan says: Thanks Charlie, great question. As regular readers will know, I’m an avid golfer. No matter where I’m spending time in the world, I like to have a golf course on my doorstep.
My condo in Cabo San Lucas, in the 5-star Quivira Resort, is home to a spectacular coastal course designed by Jack Nicklaus. My Portugal home, the Praia D’El Rey Golf and Beach Resort on the Silver Coast, boasts a world-class course that’s set amid pine forests and undulating dunes. And here in Ireland, I’m a member of the Fota Island golf club.
In terms of affordable, climate-friendly golf destinations that would ideal for retirees, I’d point to Portugal’s Silver Coast.
The Silver Coast (Costa de Prata) stretches for about 155 miles from the coast north of Lisbon, to the mouth of the Douro at Porto. Framed by the protected landscape of the Serra de Montejunto and the raw beauty of virgin Atlantic beaches, it’s both the home of Portugal’s only marine nature reserve and it’s a mecca for surfers and golf-lovers from around the world.
I consider the Silver Coast one of my greatest golfing lifestyle finds. All along this coast, you’ll find world-class courses nestled amid pristine beaches, historic towns and charming fishing villages.
The weather here is also gentler and more temperate than southern coastal regions of Portugal. For much of the year, warm afternoons are framed by cooler mornings and evenings—perfect for lounging on the beach during the day and getting a restful sleep at night. Even in August, when it’s baking hot 15 minutes inland, temperatures at my condo tend to stay in the comfortable mid-70s range, just how I like them. And importantly, you’ll can still get good value real estate on the Silver Coast…as I shared earlier this week in this article.
For a reference resource on overseas golfing destinations, members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group have access to a book I’ve written called How to Retire Early and Golf Every Day—for Half the Cost of Staying Home. RETA members can get it here. (Not a member of RETA? Click here to sign up with this special offer.)
For a reference resource on overseas golfing destinations, members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group have access to a book I’ve written called How to Retire Early and Golf Every Day—for Half the Cost of Staying Home. RETA members can get it here.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. If you have a question or any feedback, I’d love to hear it. Perhaps you have a suggestion about where you’d like us to scout next…or maybe you have a question for me about buying in Portugal, Uruguay or Ireland. Let me know here.
