Italian buyers drive up demand for villas and holiday flats in Boa Vista

A well-established community, a growing market

Around 40% of completed holiday-home transactions went to Italian buyers.

Villas with a pool, the star product

A villa with a pool costs around 55,000,000 CVE, a holiday flat around 14,000,000 CVE.

A market geared towards investment

Owners hand over management to local companies, with returns above 6% a year.

Effect on the local market

Foreign investor appetite is squeezing access to housing for Cape Verde's own population.

A relationship dating back to the early days of tourism

Italy's presence in Boa Vista is nothing new: it dates back to the island's earliest tourism investments, when operators from the Italian peninsula bet on its beaches before other European markets had even noticed Cape Verde. That early relationship explains why much of the resident foreign community speaks Italian and keeps direct business ties with cities such as Milan or Rome. Local estate agencies even employ bilingual staff dedicated exclusively to Italian clients. This deep-rooted connection has built a network of contacts that keeps drawing new purchases.

Sal, the neighbouring island, as a point of comparison

Estate agents in Boa Vista often compare their market with that of Sal, the archipelago's other major tourist island, where the presence of European buyers is even greater but more spread across nationalities. In Boa Vista, by contrast, the Italian share of the villa market is much more concentrated, which some local analysts say leaves less risk diversification. A slowdown in the Italian economy could be felt more sharply in Boa Vista than in Sal. For now, however, Italian demand remains stable year after year.

Management companies, a key piece of the business

Local companies that manage the holiday letting of these villas have become an essential link in the business, handling cleaning, maintenance and guest relations on behalf of owners who spend most of the year in Italy. These firms charge commissions on rental income in exchange for delivering returns that many owners could not achieve managing the property remotely on their own. The sector has grown alongside the property market itself, generating local employment in maintenance and hospitality work. Several of these management companies have opened their own offices at Boa Vista's airport.

Access to housing, the less welcome side

While the villa market enjoys a golden run, Cape Verdean construction and hospitality workers say land and residential housing prices have surged in parallel, making it harder to buy a home of their own. Local organisations are calling on the government for measures that would set aside land or affordable housing for the resident population, apart from the tourist market. Municipal authorities acknowledge the tension, though the measures announced so far have failed to curb the price rally. The contrast between the villa boom and the struggle to access local housing has become a recurring topic on the island.