The Algarve: municipalities and house prices in 2026

Updated: 5 November 2026 · RE/MAX Extra

The Algarve has 16 municipalities with very different prices: from €1,016/m² in Alcoutim to €4,137/m² in Loulé. Below are sale prices from Statistics Portugal (INE), what is on offer in our catalogue by municipality and parish, rents, Blue Flag beaches and IMI rates. The figures help you compare municipalities with each other; they are no substitute for valuing a specific property.

Which municipalities make up the Algarve

In INE statistics, the Algarve region is made up of 16 municipalities (concelhos): Albufeira, Alcoutim, Aljezur, Castro Marim, Faro, Lagoa, Lagos, Loulé, Monchique, Olhão, Portimão, São Brás de Alportel, Silves, Tavira, Vila do Bispo and Vila Real de Santo António. In our catalogue they correspond to the district of Faro.

Law No. 25-A/2025 restored some of the civil parishes (freguesias) that were merged in 2013. In the Algarve it affected six municipalities: in Faro, Conceição and Estoi were restored; in Lagos, Bensafrim and Barão de São João; in Loulé, Querença, Tôr and Benafim; in Olhão, Moncarapacho and Fuseta; in Silves, Alcantarilha, Pêra, Algoz and Tunes; and in Tavira, Conceição, Cabanas de Tavira, Luz de Tavira and Santo Estêvão. The changes take effect once the bodies elected in the 2025 local elections take office. Our catalogue still uses the old merged names, so those are the ones in the table further down.

Sale prices by municipality

For the Algarve as a whole, the median over these 12 months was €3,338/m², 14.2% higher than a year earlier; for Portugal, €2,264/m² and +17.7%. The range runs from the lower to the upper quartile: a quarter of sales were cheaper than the first figure and a quarter dearer than the second. A dash in the sales column means INE does not publish that figure.

Over the year the median rose most in Monchique (+30.4%), São Brás de Alportel (+25.8%) and Castro Marim (+24.5%), and least in Aljezur (+2.4%). With few sales, such figures depend heavily on which properties happened to sell: São Brás de Alportel and Castro Marim had 45 sales each in Q2, and INE gives no number for Monchique.

The market has cooled at the same time: in Q2 2026 there were 2,740 sales in the Algarve, against 3,142 a year earlier (−12.8%), while the quarterly median rose to €3,500/m², up 12.1% year on year.

INE tables break prices down by parish only for the cities of Lisbon and Porto. So for parishes within the Algarve municipalities we give catalogue asking prices further down, not sale prices.

Example: an 80 m² flat at the median price

This is a guide, not the price of a real flat: the median covers all homes sold in the municipality, with new houses, older flats and villas lumped together.

Residents and non-residents

INE does not publish this breakdown for individual Algarve municipalities: it is only available for municipalities with 100,000 or more inhabitants. For the region as a whole, in Q2 2026 buyers with a tax residence abroad paid a median €4,143/m² and residents of Portugal €3,368/m², a difference of 23.0%. For comparison: €5,878/m² against €4,000/m² in Greater Lisbon, and €3,640/m² against €2,648/m² in the Porto metropolitan area.

This is the gap between the medians of all sales in each group, not a mark-up on the same property: non-residents may be buying different flats in different places.

What is for sale in each municipality

The table shows our catalogue on 2 November 2026. The flat and house columns follow these rules: identical listings from different agencies are counted once, listings under €30,000 are left out, and a median is shown only where there are five or more properties. The ‘All listings’ column counts every active listing without these rules, plots of land included.

The median flat is not always cheaper than the median house. In Castro Marim, the flat median is set by two resort projects, Verdelago Resort and Camaleão: on 5 November they accounted for 42 of the municipality's 47 flats in our catalogue, including all 30 flats priced above €1 million. In Olhão and Tavira, too, the median house in the listings is cheaper than the median flat. A median shows the middle of a particular set of listings, not the price of a typical home, so look at the listings themselves.

Faro has no link in the first column: the catalogue page with that name shows the whole district, which means the whole Algarve.

Asking prices are higher than sale prices. The median flat in Loulé is listed at €495,000, while 80 m² at the median sale price comes to €330,960. The catalogue shows asking prices and a different mix of properties, whereas INE records completed sales. The biggest gap is in Castro Marim: €1,100,000 for the median flat in listings against €216,800 for 80 m² based on sales.

Flats for a few thousand euros are usually a timeshare week

Our Algarve catalogue has 314 flats under €30,000, priced from €900 to €29,000, and 263 of them are in Albufeira. These listings are not counted in the municipality table above, which only includes prices from €30,000. Almost all of these listings describe not a flat you would own outright but a holiday week in an aparthotel or club: ‘semana 14’, time sharing, perpetual periodic ownership right. So read the description before treating the price as a bargain, and don’t compare it with ordinary flat prices.

Where most properties are on offer

Albufeira and Portimão have the most listings. Differences within municipalities are large: in the parish of Almancil the median flat costs more than in any other parish in this table. The table lists the parishes with the most listings whose address leads unambiguously to the parish page, ordered by the combined number of flats and houses.

Renting: rents on new leases

INE publishes the median rent on new leases. The figures below cover the 12 months to June 2026; the national figure is €9.76/m² a month. There is no figure for Alcoutim, and a dash in the leases column means INE does not give the number. The ‘80 m²’ column is simple multiplication, not the rent of a specific flat.

Listings are in our section of flats to rent in Faro district, which currently has 81 flats. INE figures cover leases with a monthly rent; short-term holiday lets are not included in them, and this article does not cover them. For leases, deposits and terms, see renting a home in Portugal.

Blue Flag beaches in 2026

The Blue Flag (Bandeira Azul) is awarded in Portugal by the association ABAAE. Its 2026 list has 86 beaches in the Algarve: 85 coastal ones and one inland, the Odeleite reservoir (Albufeira de Odeleite). The flag is awarded year by year and may not be renewed, so check the current list.

IMI rates differ between neighbouring municipalities

IMI, the annual property tax, depends on the municipality. The rates below are those for 2025 for urban properties, from the Portal das Finanças (the tax authority’s website); they apply to the property’s tax value (valor patrimonial tributário, VPT), not its market price. The table gives an example for a tax value of €200,000.

In Lagos the rate is set separately for each parish; look it up on the Portal das Finanças. Reliefs and other owner costs are covered in the article on the cost of owning property.

How to narrow down your choice

1. Set your budget with taxes included. On purchase you pay IMT (property transfer tax) and stamp duty, and non-residents have their own IMT rate for homes; the calculation is in the article on taxes.
2. Compare your budget with the medians. An 80 m² flat at the median sale price ranges from €221,680 in Olhão to €330,960 in Loulé, but asking prices are usually higher.
3. Weed out timeshares. If a flat’s price starts at a few thousand euros, read the description: most likely what is for sale is one week a year.
4. Check the property, not just the municipality. Prices can differ several-fold within one municipality, so look at the specific parish and at listings in our Algarve catalogue or among houses.
5. Factor in running costs. The IMI rate and the building’s rules affect yearly costs, and a future sale may bring capital gains tax.

The buying process is explained in how to buy property in Portugal, and financing in the article on mortgages for non-residents. For prices in other regions, see our articles on Lisbon, Cascais and the coast and Porto. Our team can help you shortlist properties in the Algarve and arrange viewings: get in touch.

This article is for information only and is not legal or tax advice. Rates and rules change — always check official sources and a professional before a transaction.