Real estate — expatriation news
All our news in the Real estate section: reforms, conditions and figures, with their sources and dates, newest first.
Real estate
Switzerland: debate over tightening the Lex Koller
The National Council has backed a tightening of the law governing the purchase of real estate by persons abroad. The Council of States, which must rule next, is expected to be more reluctant, according to the source.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Argentina: Supreme Court Fast-Tracks a Case on Agricultural Land
On 7 October, Argentina's Supreme Court fast-tracked a case that could provisionally reinstate the cap on foreigners' ownership of rural land. No decision date has been set and the repeal remains in force.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Vietnam: a draft law would limit foreign ownership to apartments
In a draft revision of the Housing Law, Vietnam is considering removing foreigners' ability to own a house with land. Apartments would remain accessible, subject to conditions.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Greece: the real estate Golden Visa is pushing up Athens prices
The increase in the thresholds for Greek residency by investment has shifted foreign demand towards the outskirts of Athens and the regions. The effect on prices in the capital is real, but it is not the one being claimed.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Mauritius: property duties for non-citizens double on 1 July
Mauritius has raised the tax on property transactions by non-citizens. The island remains attractive in tax terms for a resident, but the entry cost of a purchase under an approved scheme must now be recalculated.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Dubai: the property market sets new records in 2026
Dubai's property market moves from one upswing to the next, driven by international demand. For a French buyer, the question is not the level of transactions but liquidity, service charges and the link between the property and the residence permit.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Mauritius: property schemes open the door to residency
Mauritius's approved property schemes grant a right of residence above a certain purchase price. The mechanism is clear; less clear is the liquidity of a market whose buyers are mostly other applicants to the same scheme.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Singapore: ABSD duties deter foreign buyers
Singapore applies additional duties to foreign buyers at a level that is openly dissuasive. It is a housing policy choice, and it makes local property inaccessible as an asset class for a non-resident.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Philippines: condos attract foreign retirees
The Philippines attracts foreign retirees with its cost of living and its dedicated visa. Buying an apartment there is possible, but Philippine land law sets a limit that few presentations mention.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Golden Visa: Greece raises its thresholds in sought-after areas
Law 5100/2024 raised the thresholds for the Greek real estate Golden Visa and, above all, widened the gap between high-demand areas and the rest of the country. The programme is not closed: it has become geographical.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Dubai: off-plan property now eligible for the Golden Visa
Making off-plan properties eligible for Dubai's long-term residence permit opens the scheme to younger buyers. It also shifts onto them a developer risk that buying completed properties avoided.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Portugal: Porto overtakes Lisbon among French buyers
The rent gap between Lisbon and the Porto metropolitan area is considerable, and it is documented by the Portuguese statistics institute. It is Porto's main argument, and it comes down to a ratio of one to two.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Dubai: real estate remains the main driver of the Golden Visa
Real estate is the most widely used route to Dubai’s long-term residence permit. It is also the most exposed: the right of residence depends on an asset whose market has already corrected twice in twenty years.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Greece: Golden Visa thresholds raised on popular islands
Greece has raised the threshold for its residency by investment on the most populous islands to the same level as in Attica. The scheme's geography has become the first parameter of any project.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Mauritius: doubled duties cool buyers' interest
The increase in Mauritian duties on transactions by non-citizens raises the cost of entry without changing the threshold that opens residence. For a buyer, this cost cannot be recovered on resale.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Thailand: condos, the only property open to foreigners
In Thailand, a foreigner cannot own land. Condominium ownership is the only form of freehold open to them, within a quota per building — and workarounds are unlawful.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Portugal: the Golden Visa refocused on investment funds
Portugal's residency by investment scheme has been refocused: real estate is out, investment funds remain. The permit obtained is still what it has always been — a right of residence, not a tax regime.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Spain: the end of the property Golden Visa confirmed
Spain has ended its residency by investment in real estate. The decision is part of a European trend, and it changes nothing for French nationals — who never needed it.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Switzerland: the Lex Koller still restricts purchases by foreigners
The federal law known as the Lex Koller makes the purchase of a home by a person domiciled abroad subject to authorisation. Settling there opens up the market; investing from a distance does not.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Panama: dollarised real estate reassures investors
The US dollar circulates in Panama, which removes currency risk for an investor. What remains is a local land-title distinction that costs far more than exchange rates ever could.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Greece: rental yields attract European landlords
Greek rental yields attract European landlords. Three elements are almost always missing from the calculation: the taxation of rents, the real charges and the regulation of short-term rentals.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Turkey: the weak lira attracts foreign-currency buyers
The weakness of the Turkish lira makes local real estate attractive to a buyer with foreign currency. It also makes the exit uncertain, and the citizenship threshold is expressed in a different currency from the market.
· Editorial team
Real estate
Dubai: rents rising again in 2026
Dubai rents follow a cycle that the rent increase cap cushions without eliminating. For a tenant, the issue is less the level than the gap between an old lease and a new one.
· Editorial team