Let me start today by wishing you and your loved ones a very happy holidays.
I’ve been spending Christmas here in Guadalajara with my in-laws. Things work a little differently here. In Mexico, we have a big feast first thing Christmas morning. When I say first thing, I mean midnight! Right as Christmas Eve rolls into Christmas Day.
What’s also different is, the sun is shining and it’s warm out! (Something I’ll not tire of telling my friends and family in Ireland when I call them later).
However you’re spending the holidays, I hope you have a wonderful day!
As I shared in yesterday’s Your Overseas Dream Home, toward the end of each year, my team and I at Real Estate Trend Alert compile our list of the 25 best places in the world to buy real estate for the upcoming year.
To create the index, I scored the destinations across 10 categories, ranging from Relative Value and Climate to Quality of Life, Holding Costs, International Appeal, Availability of Finance and more. This index is also much more than just a list of destinations and rankings. It’s a comprehensive, 20,000-word report featuring maps, videos, and detailed introductions and analysis on all 25 destinations.
It’s all designed to help you pinpoint your perfect overseas destination.
The full 2025 index is only available to members of my Real Estate Trend Alert group. If you’d like access to the full index, you can join here.
Today, I wanted to share top overall performer on the index with you…my number one destination to buy real estate in 2025.
A small town in northern Portugal.
The winner of our index is a small European town set at the mouth of the river that divides northern Portugal from northern Spain.
The top-ranked destination on the 2025 RETA index is the 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 lagoon and Atlantic beaches, bucolic countryside, and excellent hiking. It’s an idyllic setting, which is why Caminha scores a 9 for Quality of Life.
Caminha has so much to offer, but like other towns and cities in the far north of Portugal, it’s overlooked and undervalued…
The medieval town of Caminha boasts incredible history and culture. This is also a vibrant and increasingly upmarket destination. Yet property prices here remain highly affordable.
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 home owners. And because of this, real estate prices there are astonishingly low in comparison to popular coastal destinations to the south. This is why Caminha scores a perfect 10 in Relative Value.
Caminha sits right on Portugal’s northern border with Spain, at the mouth of the River Minho.
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.
Our RETA videographer Alan Kennedy shot this footage when he had boots on the ground in Caminha in 2024.
I’ve been singing the praises of this region and writing about it regularly ever since I first scouted it in summer 2023. Now I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
I recently 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, 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 at just 2.9%. Also, 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!
I’ve been keeping my eyes open for an off-market deal in this part of Portugal that I can bring to my RETA group. And I will continue to do so. But it’s challenging.
As of right now, communities here are small, which means developers aren’t building at a big enough scale for us to bring our RETA group-buying power to bear. Also the best opportunities are older resale properties. It would cost at least three times what I paid to build the home I bought. We can buy for much less than replacement cost.
Still, I don’t want you to miss out on this opportunity…
That’s why my team and I have put together a special guide to buying in this region of Portugal comprising a three-part video series and an in-depth report with a step-by-step guide and contact info for lawyers, agents, engineers, and more.
It’s called The RETA Guide to Investing in Portugal’s “Undiscovered North.” If you’d like to get access, you can join RETA here.
My latest real estate investment in Portugal—a historic mansion in the picturesque town of Caminha.
If you’d like to get your hands on the full 2025 Real Estate Trend AlertInternational Real Estate Index, you need to be a RETA member. Join here today and you’ll get access to the full report.
In it, you’ll learn about…
- Three emerging destinations in Baja California that have immense potential as growing numbers of people look to own in lesser-visited towns and cities on the peninsula…
- The destinations in Portugal where I see the greatest opportunities, including the small town, largely unknown to foreign tourists, where I’ve just bought a historic mansion…
- Overlooked hill towns in Italy that are bursting back to life and where you can find some of the best value real estate on the planet…
- And so much more…
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. Also in the index, you’ll find a link to a downloadable spreadsheet with all our data.
Is Relative Value most important to you? Maybe it’s Quality of Life or Climate or Income Potential? With the spreadsheet, you’ll be able to re-order the index based on your preferences.
If you’re thinking of investing in international real estate in 2025, this is an invaluable tool to have at your disposal. Get access when you join RETA here.
