The phrase “bang for your buck” has been around since the 1950s. Famously, President Eisenhower’s Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson used it in 1954 to describe the policy of relying on nuclear weapons, rather than a regular army, to keep the Soviet Union in check.
Today, the term has entered common parlance. And it’s getting plenty of use lately amid this inflationary era.
If you’re looking for bang for your buck when it comes to real estate, the good news is that you’ll find plenty of destination overseas that offer incredible value.
This week I’ve been giving you a sneak peek at the winners in some of the 10 categories that make up my 2025 Real Estate Trend AlertInternational Real Estate Index.
This index, which I released to RETA members earlier this month, is my list of the 25 best places in the world to buy real estate in 2025, ranked across categories ranging from Climate and Quality of Life to Accessibility of Finance and Holding Costs.
Today we’re going to look at another of those categories, Relative Value…or bang for your buck!
As I say, most of the destinations listed in the index offer excellent value when compared to major markets in the U.S. and Canada. In some, the value is truly exceptional. (If you’re not yet a RETA member and would like to get your hands on this exclusive members-only 2025 index, join here and you’ll get instant access to it.)
In the Relative Value category of my 2025 Real Estate Trend AlertInternational Real Estate Index, we had a two-way tie for the top spot, as well as for second place…so here are those top four destinations…
No. 1 (Tied): Hill Towns of Sicily, Italy
Scoring a perfect 10 for Relative Value are the hill towns of Sicily. The Italian island of Sicily is a land of historic cities, ancient temples, charming villages, towering mountains, and stunning beaches on every shore…
Over the millennia, this island—the largest in the Mediterranean—has been ruled by the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, the Spanish, the Vandals…to name just a few. To this day, Sicily feels somehow distinct from mainland Italy. Its history has given it a different way of life…a different attitude…even a different cuisine…
This is also the land of astonishing real estate bargains…
In medieval towns on Sicily, particularly those set in the mountainous interior amid lost-in-time landscapes, you can find charming, historic homes in various states of repair from just €10,000…sometimes even less.
In breathtaking hill towns in rural Sicily, you can own incredible, historic homes for less than the cost of a new car in the U.S.
The reason for these low prices is because Sicily’s historic hill towns have long suffered from depopulation. For generations, the young have been leaving to seek opportunities in Italy’s cities or overseas. This has left too many homes for too few people.
But earlier this year, I sent one of my scouts, Ciaran Madden, to investigate this island and what he found is that certain Sicilian hill towns are roaring back to life.
In recent years, the world has been catching on to the incredible bargains on offer in Sicily. And with the explosion of the remote working trend, people are increasingly free to take advantage of these bargains, since they can work from the island for part or all of the year.
In several of the towns and villages Ciaran visited, foreign buyers are snapping up homes in big numbers…there are new stores, cafés, and restaurants to serve the growing expat communities…town centers are being revitalized as new investment floods in…
And yet, because of the abundance of empty homes, real estate prices remain astonishingly low. You can get historic homes for insane prices like $20 to $40 per square foot…and that’s for quality homes that are structurally sound and in livable condition. That makes Sicily one of the best-value destinations to buy real estate.
No.1 (Tied): Caminha, Portugal
Also scoring 10 is the Portuguese town of Caminha. As I shared yesterday, Caminha is the top overall performer on the index. This charming town of sits at the mouth of the Minho River that separates Portugal from Spain.
It’s a town with a long and rich history…among its cobblestoned lanes and alleys, you’ll find constant reminders of its past, 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.
But it’s also a town that feels modern…you’ll find art galleries, fine dining, wine bars and boutique hotels. And the setting is idyllic. Just outside town you have lagoon and Atlantic beaches, bucolic countryside, and excellent hiking.
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.
Although Portugal has become one of the world’s most popular destinations for vacationers and expats over the last few years, Caminha, and other places in this far northern part of the country, has been overlooked. It’s virtually unknown to foreigners and as a result real estate prices there are astonishingly low in comparison to popular coastal destinations to the south.
Members of my team and I have had boots on the ground here this year and we’ve all found incredible real estate bargains. For example…
- A historic home in the center of town that spans 2,700 square feet across two floors. It’s a renovation project, but the listing price was just €185,000.
- A two-bed, two-bath stone house, originally built in 1937, just a 10-minute drive from Caminha’s center with a terrace on the second floor with a view of the river and Spain on the other side. It was listed at €150,000.
And I’ve recently bought a home in Caminha, 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.
No. 2 (Tied): Panama City, Panama
Panama City is the only major world city to make into the 2025 RETA International Real Estate Index. This is because other global centers of trade and finance like New York or London don’t tend to offer relative value.
Panama’s cosmopolitan capital is different…
Over the past decade, Panama City has well and truly arrived on the world stage as a global hub city. It is humming with busy entrepreneurs, executives, bankers, investors. Walk its streets and you’ll pass trendy cafés…craft beer bars… fine-dining restaurants…designer clothing boutiques…expansive shopping malls… All the hallmarks of a population with money in their pockets.
Panama City has the biggest skyline in Latin America and has developed into a true global safe haven.
Panama City is a gleaming metropolis. But there is one problem. There is a lack of developable land. Panama City has a tiny land area. It’s hemmed in by the Pacific Ocean to the south. North of the city, there’s lots of protected forest around the Panama Canal.
There’s a very limited amount of land to build on. So, while prices here have been pushing higher, they have much further to run. This city is in the midst of a multi-decade uptrend. This is why Panama City scores a big 9.5 in the Relative Value category of my 2025 index. And it’s why I’m always searching for killer deals in Panama City.
Already, I have brought some incredible opportunities to RETA members here…
- An Uplift of $99,950—In June 2024, RETAmembers were able to buy penthouses in a community called Ipanema for $632,200. Ipanema is set to be a landmark community rich in amenities on the city’s last prime waterfront site. In August 2024, the developer sold the exact same penthouses albeit in a different tower for $732,150. That’s an uplift of $99,950 in less than three months!
- Boost of Almost $100,000—In October 2020, we had a RETAdeal in the prestigious Santa Maria master-planned community. A RETA member bought a two-bed condo there for $268,200. My scout went to check it out in late 2024 and was told it would list for more than $368,000. And that it’s renting long term for $2,600 a month. That’s an uplift of almost $100,000 and a gross yield of nearly 12%. Renting long term!
Now, I’m closing in on a new deal in this city, also in the Santa Maria community. If it comes together, RETA members will be hearing more soon.
No. 2 (Tied): La Paz, Mexico
It’s not hard to see why La Paz, the capital of Baja California Sur state, is booming and what makes it so desirable. This is a stunningly beautiful place…
Cactus-studded hills roll down to glorious white-sand beaches and the turquoise waters of the Sea of Cortez, considered one of the most wildlife-rich and biodiverse bodies of water in the world. Here, you can swim with sea lions at the Espíritu Santo Island National Park just offshore…snorkel and scuba dive among whale sharks and sea turtles…or fish for tuna, dorado, or marlin. There’s also kayaking, kite surfing…
The beating heart of La Paz is its palm-tree-lined malecón, or seaside promenade. This stretches for about three miles along a gracefully curving bay. You’ll find couples strolling, kids scampering about, people exercising and cycling…
La Paz has undergone a radical transformation in recent years, most noticeably along its three-mile-long seafront malecon.
Recently there has been an influx of people to La Paz (driven by the phenomenal growth of Cabo to the south), but in general, La Paz remains a sleepy, tranquil place. That means it’s affordable. The cost of living is a fraction of what you pay in the U.S.
La Paz has the world-class beaches and the Sea of Cortez. And it has nice restaurants, big box stores, hospitals…everything you’d expect of a city of 250,000 people. Yet, it retains a charming, small-town vibe.
Plus, La Paz has its own international airport. In its heyday, La Paz’s airport hosted flights to the U.S. After the global financial crisis, those flights stopped. But now they’re coming back. In November, Alaska Airlines launched several weekly flights between La Paz and Los Angeles.
Put it all together and La Paz is a destination with immense potential. And I have my eye on a potential RETA-grade opportunity here.
The full 2025 Real Estate Trend AlertInternational Real Estate Index report is available to all RETA members…if you’re not yet a member, you can join here today and you’ll get access.
As well as more about the destinations you’ve read about here today, you’ll also find:
- My top two destinations to buy real estate in Spain…
- An under-the-radar town on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast that’s on the cusp of a huge transformation…
- Three “hidden” rivieras in Europe that boast some of the most stunning coastlines on the planet…
- A stunning Caribbean island belonging to Mexico that already welcomes millions of cruise ship passengers each year but which is now turning into a destination for year-round living…
And for several of the destinations on the index, you’ll also find incredible overview videos produced by the RETA team. Plus you’ll get a link to a downloadable spreadsheet with all our data so you can filter and re-order the index based on the criteria you’re most interested in.
Join RETA today and you’ll get access to the entire 2025 Real Estate Trend AlertInternational Real Estate Index report. All the details you’ll need to become a member are here.
Ronan McMahon, Founder, Overseas Dream Home & Real Estate Trend Alert
P.S. Do you agree/disagree with my top “bang for your buck” locations for 2025? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a line here and tell me what you think.
