Retirees pick up portuguese property

Retirees are increasingly picking up Portuguese property, according to new reports.

The country is struggling with economic problems, but while the housing market appears to be stagnant, tax breaks, low prices and, of course, Portugal’s stunning range of beaches, are bringing a growing number of European retirees to its real estate.

Lisbon has introduced a new tax incentive for those seeking a sun-soaked retirement: all Europeans with private pensions will be exempt from income tax on payments received in their home country. The move is in stark contrast to the austerity measures implemented for locals, with Portuguese pensioners seeing their tax bills rise to help the country recoup its deficit.

Indeed, Portugal is already setting itself up as a safe haven for grey property buyers: “the Florida of Europe”, as Erwin Mohr of the Association of Foreign Property Owners puts it.

"Many British, German and Scandinavian seniors seeking sun already come to Portugal, in particular the Algarve, and the number of French visitors is up sharply," Carlos Vinhas Pereira, head of the Franco-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Yahoo! News.

While property prices are increasingly affordable, though, Portugal’s market is not haunted by the ghost towns that populate Spain, where a construction boom and housing bubble left the country with lots of unsold inventory.