One report, twelve markets, one method. We take official statistics first — national statistics institutes, land registries, central banks. Where a country publishes no official price level, we use portal asking prices and say so, every time. Prices and asking prices are different animals; we never mix them without a label.
Figures verified 8 July 2026Five of the twelve countries publish — or have portals that publish — a usable national €/m² benchmark. Two more (France, Germany) publish official indices only, so their capital city stands in, tagged as such. Each bar states its basis: OFFICIAL = registered transaction or valuation data. ASKING = portal advertised prices, which run above what buyers actually pay.
Every country in the set publishes an official house price index. These are year-on-year changes, all from national statistics offices or central banks; the period is stated per bar.
Periods differ slightly by country because release calendars differ; each bar states its own. Iberia is running hot; the middle of the pack is cooling; Germany and France are close to flat.
National median of actual sales (INE, Q4 2025). The fastest riser in this set — and foreign buyers pay a documented premium.
Portugal property prices → Spain · Official basisAverage registered sale price (Registradores, Q1 2026). Every official series is at a record; Murcia is rising fastest.
Spain property prices → France · Official basisEurope's flattest big market — buyer's negotiating power. Dordogne houses average under €2,000/m² (portal).
France property prices → Italy · Asking basisNational asking average (Apr 2026); official index +5.2%. Puglia and Sicily are the cheapest coastal markets in the set.
Italy property prices → Germany · Asking basisRecovery real but fading — apartments are falling in real terms. Leipzig (€2,636/m² asking) is the big-city value play.
Germany property prices → Netherlands · Official basisOfficial average sale price (May 2026), cooling monthly. Amsterdam is now the weakest market in the country.
Netherlands property prices → Greece · Official indexPast its peak pace. Athens Riviera asks €4,167/m² while the Peloponnese averages €1,410/m² (both asking).
Greece property prices → Ireland · Official basisA two-speed market: Dublin is cooling while rural counties still run +8–13% on asking prices. Supply is the story.
Ireland property prices → Malta · Official indexContract-based prices up 6.7% (Q1 2026); the central bank reckons values still sit about 5% below fundamentals.
Malta property prices → Cyprus · Official indexForeign demand is the engine. Larnaca — new-build apartments around €200,000 — is the value pick over Limassol.
Cyprus property prices → Austria · Official basisOfficial apartment median (2025). The 2023–24 correction is over, but real prices remain below the 2022 peak.
Austria property prices → United Kingdom · Official basisOfficial average (Apr 2026). London is falling (−2.1%) while the North East rises 9.9% — pick your region carefully.
UK property prices →OFFICIAL = registered transaction or valuation data. ASKING = portal advertised prices. Cells marked † are whole-home prices because the country publishes no €/m². "—" means no figure passed verification; we don't estimate.
| Country | National benchmark | Flagship city | Cheapest featured region | Official index y/y | Main official source | Main portal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | €2,198/m² median (OFFICIAL, Q4 2025) | Lisbon €5,198/m² (OFFICIAL, Q4 2025) | Centro €1,786/m² (ASKING, Jun 2026) | +17.8% (Q1 2026) | INE | Idealista |
| Spain | €2,429/m² avg registered (OFFICIAL, Q1 2026) | Madrid €6,013/m² (ASKING, Jun 2026) | Murcia €1,816/m² (ASKING, Jun 2026) | +12.9% (Q1 2026) | INE / Registradores | Idealista |
| France | — (official index only) | Paris €9,580/m² (OFFICIAL, to Feb 2026) | Dordogne €1,704–1,857/m² (PORTAL, May 2026) | +0.1% (Q1 2026) | INSEE / Notaires | MeilleursAgents / SeLoger |
| Italy | €2,188/m² (ASKING, Apr 2026) | Milan €5,675/m² (ASKING, Jun 2026) | Sicily €1,172/m² (ASKING, Jun 2026) | +5.2% (Q1 2026) | ISTAT / OMI | Immobiliare.it |
| Germany | — (official index only) | Berlin €4,981/m² (ASKING, Jul 2026) | Leipzig €2,636/m² (ASKING, Jul 2026) | +1.4% (Q1 2026) | Destatis / GREIX | ImmoScout24 / Immowelt |
| Netherlands | €487,383 avg price† (OFFICIAL, May 2026) | Amsterdam €8,344/m² (AGENT transaction, Q1 2026) | Groningen city €396,626 avg† (OFFICIAL, 2025) | +4.4% (May 2026) | CBS / Kadaster | Funda / Pararius |
| Greece | — (official index only) | Athens Riviera (Southern Suburbs) €4,167/m² (ASKING, Q1 2026) | Peloponnese €1,410/m² (ASKING, end-2024) | +5.7% (Q1 2026, apartments) | Bank of Greece | Spitogatos |
| Ireland | €390,461 median† (OFFICIAL, yr to Mar 2026) | Dublin €500,000 median† (OFFICIAL) | Donegal / Longford €200,000 median† (OFFICIAL) | +6.5% (yr to Mar 2026) | CSO | Daft.ie |
| Malta | €2,437/m² (ASKING estimate, Q1 2026) | Valletta €7,626/m² (ASKING, Jul 2026) | Gozo from ~€1,200/m² (ASKING, Jul 2026) | +6.7% (Q1 2026) | NSO / Central Bank of Malta | djar.ai (aggregator) |
| Cyprus | — (official index only) | Limassol new-build apartments >€425,000 avg† (TRANSACTION, 2025) | Nicosia new-build apartments ~€190,000 avg† (TRANSACTION, 2025) | +7.5% (Q1 2026) | Central Bank of Cyprus | Bazaraki |
| Austria | €4,162/m² apartment median (OFFICIAL, 2025) | Vienna €5,212/m² median (OFFICIAL, 2025) | Burgenland houses €1,889/m² median (OFFICIAL, 2025) | +2.4% (Q1 2026) | Statistik Austria / OeNB | willhaben |
| United Kingdom | £270,080 ≈ €316,000 avg† (OFFICIAL, Apr 2026) | London £553,000 ≈ €647,000 avg† (OFFICIAL, Apr 2026) | Northern Ireland £198,000 ≈ €232,000 avg† (OFFICIAL, Q1 2026) | +3.8% (Apr 2026) | HM Land Registry / ONS | Rightmove |
† Whole-home price (average or median as stated), not €/m² — these countries publish no official €/m². Cyprus city figures are new-build transaction averages, skewed upward by luxury product; resale stock trades lower. Netherlands' Amsterdam figure is estate-agent (MVA/NVM) transaction data, not the national statistics office. GBP converted at £1 = €1.17 (8 July 2026), rounded.
Only five countries have a national €/m² benchmark we can stand behind. Italy and Portugal are effectively tied — but Italy's number is an asking price and Portugal's is what buyers actually paid. Since asking prices run above sale prices, Italy is almost certainly the cheapest market in this set on any like-for-like basis.
| # | Country | Benchmark €/m² | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | €2,188 (Apr 2026) | ASKING — portal national average |
| 2 | Portugal | €2,198 (Q4 2025) | OFFICIAL — median of actual sales |
| 3 | Spain | €2,429 (Q1 2026) | OFFICIAL — average registered sale |
| 4 | Malta | €2,437 (Q1 2026) | ASKING — listings-based estimate |
| 5 | Austria | €4,162 (2025) | OFFICIAL — apartment median |
Of the three whole-home-price countries, the UK is cheapest (£270,080 ≈ €316,000 average), then Ireland (€390,461 median), then the Netherlands (€487,383 average) — note the UK and Netherlands figures are means and Ireland's is a median, so they aren't perfectly comparable. France, Germany, Greece and Cyprus publish no national price level at all and can't be ranked here. Within countries, the cheapest featured regions are dramatic outliers: Sicily €1,172/m² and Calabria €961/m² (both asking, Jun 2026) undercut everything else in this report.
A rough ratio, calculated one way for all four countries where the briefs give both a national €/m² benchmark and an official wage figure: price of a 100 m² home at the national benchmark ÷ annual gross wage (12 × the monthly figure where only a monthly wage is published). Wage definitions differ by country — treat this as a sketch, not a statistic.
| # | Country | 100 m² at benchmark | Wage used (official) | Rough ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austria | €416,200 (OFFICIAL €/m²) | €55,678 — median full-time gross, 2024 | ~7.5 years |
| 2 | Spain | €242,900 (OFFICIAL €/m²) | €29,540 — average gross, 2024 | ~8.2 years |
| 3 | Malta | €243,700 (ASKING €/m²) | €27,240 — average basic, Q1 2026 annualised | ~8.9 years |
| 4 | Portugal | €219,800 (OFFICIAL €/m²) | €20,328 — average gross ×12, 2025 | ~10.8 years |
For the whole-home-price countries, the briefs' own average-price-to-wage calculations run: UK ~6.9×, Ireland ~7.0×, Netherlands ~10.1× — a different calculation (whole average home, not 100 m²), so don't compare across the two tables. France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus and Italy are omitted: the first four lack a national benchmark price, and Italy's brief verifies household income, not a wage. One thing matters more than any of it: affordability for a US or Canadian buyer with dollar income is a different question entirely. These ratios describe local earners. Your ratio depends on your dollars, the exchange rate (€1 = $1.17 on 8 July 2026), and what you sell at home.
This ranking is opinion, not data. We weighed price, healthcare access, English-friendliness, climate, and whether a realistic visa route exists for Americans and Canadians — using only what our research supports. Reasonable people will rank differently.
| # | Country | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | The full package: climate, the Algarve's anglophone infrastructure, the D7 income route. Priced in: the fastest-rising prices here (+17.8%) and a new 7.5% IMT surcharge for non-resident buyers (Decreto-Lei 97/2026). |
| 2 | Spain | The widest choice of coastal markets in Europe — Torrevieja €2,502/m² to Marbella €5,596/m² (asking) — plus the non-lucrative visa and the largest anglophone expat infrastructure in southern Europe. |
| 3 | Greece | Serious value (Peloponnese €1,410/m², Chania €2,936/m², asking) with a visa route and past-peak price growth. Healthcare thins out beyond the cities and bigger islands. |
| 4 | Italy | The cheapest coastal property in the set (Puglia, Sicily) and a 7% flat tax for foreign pensioners in southern towns. The elective residence visa works, but consulates demand high passive income. |
| 5 | Cyprus | Year-round sun, deeply anglophone (75% of Paphos sales go to foreign buyers), permanent residence from €300,000 invested. Non-negotiable: a title-deed search before any purchase. |
| 6 | France | A flat market means negotiating power; the Dordogne's established anglophone belt trades under €2,000/m². The long-stay visitor visa is straightforward; day-to-day English is not. |
Why the others miss the cut: Malta is English-speaking but the AIP regime limits non-EU buyers to one property with no rental, at the steepest price-to-wage ratio here. The UK has no retirement visa — the honest dealbreaker. The Netherlands pairs the highest average price in the set with a squeezed rental market. Germany and Austria offer no straightforward retiree route, and Austria's provinces require approval before a non-EU buyer can purchase at all.
| Country | Official statistics | Flagship portal(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | INE — ine.pt (local housing price statistics; IPHab index) | idealista.pt |
| Spain | INE — ine.es (IPV); Registradores — registradores.org | idealista.com |
| France | INSEE — insee.fr; Notaires — notaires.fr | meilleursagents.com, seloger.com |
| Italy | ISTAT — istat.it (IPAB); Agenzia delle Entrate OMI — agenziaentrate.gov.it | immobiliare.it |
| Germany | Destatis — destatis.de; GREIX (Kiel Institute) — greix.de | immobilienscout24.de, immowelt.de |
| Netherlands | CBS / Kadaster — cbs.nl | funda.nl, pararius.com |
| Greece | Bank of Greece — bankofgreece.gr | spitogatos.gr |
| Ireland | CSO — cso.ie; Property Price Register — propertypriceregister.ie | daft.ie, myhome.ie |
| Malta | NSO — nso.gov.mt (RPPI); Central Bank of Malta — centralbankmalta.org | djar.ai (multi-agency aggregator) |
| Cyprus | Central Bank of Cyprus — centralbank.cy (RPPI) | bazaraki.com |
| Austria | Statistik Austria — statistik.at; OeNB — oenb.at | willhaben.at |
| United Kingdom | UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry / ONS) — landregistry.data.gov.uk | rightmove.co.uk |