Friday 28 de August de 2026 · Macaronesia
With barely 5,000 inhabitants and a single golden-sand beach as its great draw, Porto Santo is facing a housing stock increasingly geared towards second homes …
The Madeiran capital has already passed 3,000 euros per square metre in the centre, with holiday lets and demand from foreign buyers the main drivers of a sque…
Santana's traditional thatched houses are increasingly being converted into tourist accommodation rather than family homes.
Dependence on sea and air links with Madeira shapes construction costs, according to industry sources.
Madeira's western tip still has house prices far below those of the capital, although interest is beginning to pick up.
Plots once given over to melons are shifting between abandonment, vineyards and development pressure.
Properties within 300 metres of the beach sell for well above those in the rest of the island, according to estate agents.
Workers in secure jobs in Funchal reckon it would take them more than a decade to save up a deposit for a flat.
The council is examining public land mechanisms and rental support for residents.
Families under 35 are turning to inherited or shared homes as prices run well ahead of local wages.
The popularity of walking routes alongside the irrigation channels is turning old farmhouses into rural guest accommodation.
The Zona Velha and the streets around central Funchal are seeing a sustained rise in foreign buyers seeking a second home or a base for remote work.