A Place in the Sun's Annual 10 Best Places to Buy Abroad Index
It’s been a dramatic year for sure but does your favourite place feature in the year’s hot spots?
Headline stories:
- Spain continues to be the top choice
- Average buyer in Spain has £172k
- Italy up to best-ever number three
- Most expensive searches for homes are in the Caribbean
- Montenegro makes its debut
It’s that time of year again and we are delighted to bring you our 10 Best Places to Buy Abroad index for 2026! What has gone on in the past 12 months? Well where do we begin … our latest rankings have not been immune to the tumult of 2025.
As the year draws to a close we have again taken a deep dive into your property searches and enquiries across aplaceinthesun.com to see where’s most in demand – and how much you are looking to spend in each of the locations. There really are some interesting trends to pick out. Spain and France remain top of the rankings yet despite high cost of living in the UK, and the UK property market slump, the average spend has increased in both.
Italy has risen to number three, leap-frogging both Portugal and Cyprus, for the first time ever. Greece has gone up the rankings. In other big news, the little Balkan nation of Montenegro is in at number 10. Why?
Better affordability in some parts, and more scope for long-term growth and development possibly explains this – for those seeking a base in Europe or taking the long view for investment it’s become an increasingly viable alternative as it moves towards EU membership in 2028.
For very different reasons, perhaps, the Caribbean locations of Barbados, and Antigua & Barbuda are in at number nine. These both come with higher budgets, but both offer good tax benefits alongside the obvious year-round sun and island-lifestyle appeal.
So here is the full low down.
1. Spain
Spain is king, as ever, and in a year when the country’s economy and property market go from strength to strength, it’s rather apt. Guaranteed sun, laid-back lifestyle, easy access and a great choice of property options across all sorts of coasts makes it top for so many nations.
In fact according to national data, the Dutch have overtaken the British in Alicante province, the busiest part of Spain for overseas buyers. The result is rising property prices in most areas. The average property search was slightly higher than last year - £173,915, compared to last year’s £167,160.
Where do we want to go? Well our top five locations ping back and forth between the Costa Banca and Costa del Sol.
Great beaches and dozens of affordable apartments make Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca the top most-searched-for location (again), followed by the Costa del Sol’s increasingly popular Estepona (Jasmine’s recent TV series Renovation in the Sun may well have had an impact!) then nearby Marbella and back to the Costa Blanca with Villamartin, and Orihuela Costa in the southern Costa Blanca. This is pretty much a carbon-copy of last year’s state of affairs, but we are seeing Ciudad Quesada jump into the top five for enquiries.
But how far does that £173,915 go across Spain?
Roughly €200,000 this ‘average’ can go a long way in many parts of Spain.
In the Torrevieja area you can buy a three-bedroom townhouse, bungalow or penthouse apartment for this budget, and it can even further if you head into Murcia, where you can find a villa (take a look at Camposol or Mazarron) or even a five-bedroom bungalow.
Prices rise if you look at the hot spots of the Orihuela Costa – like Quesada and Villamartin – but you can still find a second-hand three or four-bedroom property there for £170k-£180k. The northern Costa Blanca is more expensive: expect to find a nice one-bed apartment.
Almeria also offers great value for money – fancy a detached villa with a private pool? You can find one - but if you are looking at the Costa del Sol, a one-bedroom apartment or studio is really as far as that goes. Don’t forget that Fuerteventura offers the best value if you want winter sun!
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN SPAIN
2. France
The budgets of Francophiles have risen by 14% in this year’s index. The average search has now topped £200k – at £203,363. Incidentally it rose 14 % between 2024 and 2025 too.
This is interesting as unlike Spain or Cyprus, property prices in rural France have remained pretty static. Is it because a greater proportion of people are looking to move there, so buying a bigger home?
Well £200k still goes a very long way in parts of rural France, buying a charming stone detached home with a garden and even a gite or two in many locations of southwest France.
The five most popular searches are solidly glamorous French Riviera: Cannes, Nice, Antibes, Mougins and Grimaud.
Yet whilst you might be window shopping these upscale locations, only Nice and Antibes translate into property enquiries. Above these two are Bergerac in the Dordogne, Carcassonne and Sauze-Vaussais in Deux-Sevres, a somewhat under-the-radar part of southwest France between La Rochelle, Poitiers and Angouleme.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN FRANCE
3. Italy (↑)
Italy is on a roll! We love its historic homes and charismatic lifestyle, and it now offers some tax incentives too.
The amount being spent is pretty bang on what it was the year before, give or take £6000 – it’s £122,967, down from £128,920.
What does that buy? Well the top five locations for enquiries are a nice mix of rolling countryside, sun-soaked beach and the glamorous north: Tuscany’s Bagni di Lucca is top again; followed by Scalea (Calabria), San Siro (a small town in Lake Como not the Milanese football stadium) then Cianciana (Sicily) and Vagli Sotto (near Lucca again).
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN ITALY
4. Cyprus
It’s been rising since Covid, an indication of its easier (and more affordable) access, and also tax advantages. That great climate, the lower cost of living and ease of residency have all played their part in keeping Cyprus high in the index this year.
The typical budget has jumped up. It’s now £259,254, up on last year’s £205,014. This will get you a nice apartment, or a two- or three-bedroom townhouse, depending on where you look, even a small villa in some parts – investigate the southeast.
Where you are looking however has changed not a lot. It’s predominantly Paphos area with Chloraka, Coral Bay, Sea Caves, Drosia (the Larnaca outlier) and Droushia the same as last year. Then Kamares Village, an upscale development in Tala in the Paphos region.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN CYPRUS
5. Greece (↑)
Greece has jumped up a place – we love the lifestyle and we have Alan and Amanda’s Greek Job TV series currently showcasing the stunning landscape and beautiful stones properties of Corfu. There’s also the fact it still offers a golden visa – entry point from €250,000 to €800,000, depending on the location.
The average search budget is up 10% from £229,318 to £250,077.
But Crete dominates our index as always, and whilst Greece always throws up a new hot spot, this time it’s not Corfu Town but Attica – the mainland region in which Athens sits. Enquiries are dominated by the Cretan hot spots: Agios Nikolaos, Sitia, Rethymno, Elounda and Chania – no big fat Greek surprises there.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN GREECE
6. Portugal (↓)
We do love this beautiful, laid-back country and its people but the fact that investor incentives and tax incentives has gone have perhaps had a little impact. The lifestyle, warm people and stunning coastlines remain the biggest draw.
The average property search budget was down not up on last year – which is something of a turn-around after recent years. It has dipped to below £300,000 – from £324,373 to £299,623.
But what is newsworthy is the shift in interest from the usual Algarve dominance towards Lisbon. The top five searches were headed by Lagos in the western Algarve, but then followed by Leiria (Silver Coast), Lisbon and the Lisbon Coast, Porto and Castelo Branco, central Portugal.
With enquiries the Algarve remains king: Lagos led (again) followed by Vila do Bispo in the far western Algarve, Cabanas de Tavira in the east, and Bemposta (central).
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN PORTUGAL
7. Turkey (↑)
Turkey is up one place this year. A popular choice for its affordability, but the average search budget has increased by 18% to £194,583. Ironically it used to be the ‘affordable alternative’ to Spain, but this figure is now higher than the average search in Spain.
But there has been a slight change in the most popular locations of the southwest coast. For enquiries: Ovacik and Altinkum are up there, but then there’s nearby Uzumlu, Mahmutlar and Kemer.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN TURKEY
8. Bulgaria (↑)
If you are looking to get a really cheap home in Europe, Bulgaria remains the favourite choice and remains at number eight. Yet it is not as cheap as it once was: the average search in Bulgaria has increased from £35,487 to £62,401.
Locations of most interest are topped again by locations in the rural north of the country in Veliko Tarnovo province: Pavlikeni, Polski Trambesh, Polski Senovets, Gorsko Kalugerovo and Nova Varbovka.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN BULGARIA
9. Antigua & Barbuda and Barbados (NEW)
Don’t we all feel like a dose of tropical island escape right now? But over the past year a combination of remote-working trends, tax benefits and also a tempting golden passport (Antigua & Barbuda) has seen these two southern Caribbean islands enter the rankings.
Both Commonwealth islands are reached by direct flights from the UK, are seeing growing US interest, and booming tourism.
The average budget for Antigua & Barbuda is £514,823, and for Barbados it’s £425,508 – these figures are by far the highest in our index, suggesting that purchases may be motivated by tax or residency perks (for Antigua & Barbuda, citizenship is offered through the CIP scheme that includes the option to purchase real estate for a minimum of USD300,000.
The hotspot location in Barbados remains the west coast; and in Antigua & Barbuda the bustling west and south coasts remain in vogue.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN antigua & barbuda
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN barbados
10. Montenegro (NEW)
Well for the first time ever, Montenegro is into our Top Ten index. This is perhaps not such a surprise as it provides good scope for long-term growth.
Of key interest is the Bay of Kotor, a fjord, lined with pretty historic towns, such as Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi and then there is Budva and Tivat. The average spend is £198,814, and enquiries are up 54%.
The top five searches are all around those beautiful waterfront towns: Budva, Kotor, Tivat, Herceg Novi and Bar. Enquiries are dominated by Lustica, a beautiful peninsula with a large-scale resort, Lustica Bay.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES IN MONTENEGRO
