Luís Lima, president of the Portuguese association for real estate agents (APEMIP), recently spoke of a lack of high value property for sale in parts of the Algarve, which could threaten the future of the Government’s Golden Residence Permit Programme: Meravista, the Algarve’s biggest property portal, disagrees.

The Government’s Golden Residence Permit Programme was launched in 2012. One requirement to qualify for a Permit is the investment of €500,000 or more in Portuguese property. So far, a total of 1,649 'Golden Visas' have been issued. Of those, 1,563 were via property investments and 80% of investors were Chinese.

During the past decade thousands of Britons purchased off-plan properties in Cyprus but they were faced with numerous problems including:

a) Sales initiated in this country do not appear to be regulated by this country;

b) Properties purchased remain in the name of the developer, and could potentially be re-possessed by the Bank that has financed the development; alternatively purchasers have been tied into loans, often in strong currencies that they have little hope of repaying;

Affordable property in amazing surroundings: where life is peaceful, calm and at one with nature. What more could you ask for than to live in a typical Algarvean, inland town with a dreamy, wonderfully slow pace of life.
Take this opportunity to have a glimpse of such a scenario with properties in São Bartolomeo de Messines.

News service, CyprusExpat has been contacted by a British couple who have been victims of a property fraud in Cyprus.

There are many more victims of this fraud, and time is running out for all of them. Below is the first message received.

London based debt collection solicitors Welbeck Law LLP, has launched a specialist debt collection service for Portuguese condominium managers which traces and pursues condominium fee debtors.

This follows the success of Welbeck’s service for condominium management across Spain.

The market has shown great movement, and a lot of properties have been sold in the last few months. This month we are featuring a few of the fabulous villas just new on the market, and some recent price reductions.

Visit our site for some additional options and contact us to book your visit.

The Algarve is an Aladdin’s cave of architectural styles. As you travel through the region, you’ll see examples of both historic and modern day designs sitting side-by-side.

The Great Earthquake of 1755 shook the whole of Western Europe. Almost all sizable structures in the Algarve were damaged or destroyed. It’s thanks to the Marquis of Pombal, the prime minister of the day, who arranged the reconstruction of countless buildings across the region, that we have buildings of historical interest today.

As the region’s property market begins to recover, we take a look at the major architectural influences through the ages and at what styles are attracting buyers to invest in Algarve property in 2014.

As the Algarve goes, there is little encroachment of sprawl or congestion to accompany even the most modern of its populated areas; yet Aljezur strips away all notion of ‘urban’ and ‘population’ and leaves you with nothing but the community you live in and the natural world around you. There are affordable opportunities to live in Aljezur and a quality of life that can be found nowhere else in Europe. It is for these reasons that Meravista is featuring Aljezur as the first detailed property report of the Algarve’s 16 wonderful counties.