Algarve Estate Agents & Buyer's Agents

	Contacting agencies yourself	With Portugal Owners
Price	One agency’s opinion, and an agency pitching for your listing has a reason to quote high	Two or three estimates on the same brief, side by side, so you see the real range
Homes you see	Portugal has no shared listings system like the US MLS, so each agency mainly shows its own stock	Your brief goes to the agencies and buyer’s agents that hold the kind of home you want
Who to call	Picked from portal ads and search results	Matched to your area, property and budget, with the AMI licence checked on the official register
Your details	Every agency you contact has them and will follow up	No agency gets them until you choose who to talk to
Cost to you	Free	Free, and no agency pays to be listed on this site

How we built this list

This page covers agencies that sell in several Algarve towns. Each works in English, markets to international clients and holds an AMI licence (the licence every Portuguese estate agency needs from IMPIC, the regulator). Agencies with a single office are on the area lists. We read each agency’s website, including the legal footer, and checked every licence number on the IMPIC public register, first on 24 September 2026 and again on 28 September 2026. Where a franchise has several offices run by different companies, we give each company’s AMI number.

Portugal Owners is listed first because it is our own free matching service; it is not an estate agency. No agency paid to be listed. The agencies are not ranked; they are grouped by type and listed alphabetically. If a fact here is wrong or out of date, tell us through the contact page.

Not sure which to choose? Start here

Portugal Owners: free agent matching

Portugal Owners is an independent English-language guide, not an estate agency. Contacting one agency gets you one opinion, and an agency pitching for your listing has a reason to quote high. Tell us about the property once and we ask two or three agencies from this list that suit it for a price estimate, so you compare like with like. Buyers get the agencies and buyer’s agents that hold the kind of home they want, because Portugal has no shared listings system like the US MLS and each agency mainly shows its own stock. It’s free, no agency pays to be listed, and your details go to no agency until you choose. Tell us about your property.

Tradeoff: we don’t list, value or sell property ourselves, so viewings, pricing and the sale itself are handled by the agency you choose.

Comparison table

Agency	Type	Segment	Languages (stated)	AMI licence (verified on IMPIC)	Algarve offices we found
Portugal Owners	Free matching service (not an estate agency)	All segments, sellers and buyers	English	Not applicable	Suggests 2–3 agencies that fit your property
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Portugal Property	Network (brand affiliate)	All property types	Website in EN, CN, DE, FR, IT, PT, RU	8460	Vilamoura (2), Almancil, Lagos, Estoi
Century 21 Realty Art	Network (franchise group)	General residential	“Multiple languages” (not listed)	5101	Portimão, Albufeira, Guia, Faro
Engel & Völkers	Network (five licence partners)	Residential, villas, luxury	Up to ten per shop	11742, 14061, 11972, 11397, 18322	Lagos, Portimão, Carvoeiro, Albufeira, Vilamoura, Tavira
ERA	Network (five franchise companies)	General residential	Varies by office	6193, 17084, 5838, 16255, 8261	Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, Carvoeiro, Albufeira, Tavira
Fastighetsbyrån	Network (Swedish)	Scandinavian buyers	Website in SV, EN, PT	10369, 16074	Lagos, Tavira
Fine & Country Algarve	Network (UK-origin brand)	Upper and luxury	Not stated	9767	Carvoeiro, Albufeira, Almancil, Tavira
KW Flash Algarve (Keller Williams)	Network (franchise)	All segments	Not stated	23329	Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira
LUXIMOS Christie’s	Network (Christie’s affiliate)	Premium	Not stated	9063	Lagos, Semino (Quarteira)
Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty	Network (two Algarve companies)	Luxury	Website in PT, EN, FR, ES	10437, 8904	Carvoeiro, Vilamoura
RE/MAX	Network (six franchise companies)	General residential and premium	Varies by office	8592, 12612, 6640, 7433, 1718, 4515	Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira (2), Vilamoura, Quarteira, Tavira
Casas do Sotavento	Independent	Sales and rentals, east Algarve	Website in PT, EN	17215	Six shops from Quinta do Lago to Vila Real de Santo António
Exclusive Algarve Villas	Boutique	Luxury villas	EN, PT, NL, DE, FR	7516	Lagoa, Vilamoura, Lagos
Gatehouse International Algarve	Independent network	Algarve-wide	Not stated	8590	Almancil

A listing agency acts for the seller under the mediation contract (contrato de mediação imobiliária). Portuguese law bars one agency from being paid by both buyer and seller in the same deal (Lei 15/2013, article 17(2)(a)).

International networks and franchises

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Portugal Property

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Portugal Property is run by Appreciating Portugal – Sociedade de Mediação Imobiliária, Unipessoal Lda, with its head office at Marina Plaza, Vilamoura. One company runs five Algarve offices: two in Vilamoura (the marina and the Hilton resort), a Golden Triangle office in Almancil, a West Algarve office at Lagos marina and an East Algarve office in Estoi, near Faro. It sells all property types. Its website is in English, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Russian. AMI 8460, verified on IMPIC. The same licence covers its Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and Azores offices. The website does not say whether it represents buyers.

Tradeoff: it is a nationwide business headquartered in Vilamoura, so ask who handles listings in your town.

Century 21 Realty Art

Century 21 Realty Art is run by Realtyart – Mediação Imobiliária, S.A., whose registered seat is in Lisbon. It has Algarve offices in Portimão, Albufeira, Guia (Algarve Shopping) and Faro, and further offices in Lisbon, Porto and the north. It says it has more than 300 consultants and describes itself as the Algarve’s reference real estate group; the Portimão office alone has about 40 staff. It works in general residential sales. It says its consultants speak “multiple languages” without listing them, so ask for an English-speaking consultant. AMI 5101, verified on IMPIC. One licence covers every office. The website does not say whether it represents buyers.

Tradeoff: it is a large franchise group, so the service you get depends largely on the individual consultant.

Engel & Völkers (Algarve licence partners)

Engel & Völkers is a German brand whose Algarve shops are run by five separate licence partners. Lagos is SOPC 3 – Actividades Imobiliárias (AMI 11742); Portimão is Soho Algarve (AMI 14061); Carvoeiro and Albufeira share Luis Palma Santos, Lda (AMI 11972); Vilamoura is IMO. Vilamoura (AMI 11397); and Faro-Tavira is João Agualusa & Elisa Ferreira, Lda (AMI 18322). All verified on IMPIC. The shops work in residential, villa, luxury and investment property and list more staff languages than most agencies: ten at Carvoeiro, nine at Albufeira and Faro-Tavira. None of the shop pages says it represents buyers.

Tradeoff: each shop is a different company with its own commission and terms, so compare shops, not the brand.

ERA (Algarve franchises)

ERA is a franchise network of general residential offices, and each Algarve office is a separate company. ERA Lagos is Afonso & Poucochinho (AMI 6193); ERA Portimão / Praia da Rocha is Proposta Eleita (AMI 17084); ERA Lagoa and ERA Carvoeiro share Domus Lagoa (AMI 5838); ERA Albufeira Centro is Albuincome Investments (AMI 16255); and ERA Tavira is S&R Realty Solutions (AMI 8261). All verified on IMPIC. Languages vary: ERA Lagos lists five and ERA Portimão eight, while the others don’t publish theirs. ERA offices tend to work the middle of the market; ERA Portimão’s listed houses topped out at €1.2 million when we checked. None says it represents buyers.

Tradeoff: service and commission are set office by office, not by ERA Portugal.

Fastighetsbyrån

Fastighetsbyrån is the estate agency owned by the Swedish bank Swedbank, and it has two Algarve offices run by different companies. The Lagos office, on Rua do Baluarte, is FB Mediação Imobiliária, Lda (AMI 10369); the Tavira office, on Rua Jacques Pessoa, is Ocean Evidence – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda (AMI 16074). Both verified on IMPIC. Its website is in Swedish, English and Portuguese and its client base is weighted to Swedish and Scandinavian buyers. In Lagos its listed houses started at €450,000 when we checked, so it works mainly above the entry level. The website does not say whether it represents buyers. For a seller, the point is direct reach into the Swedish market.

Tradeoff: its buyer base is mainly Scandinavian, so English-language marketing is secondary.

Fine & Country Algarve

Fine & Country Algarve is run by Fino Propriedades – Sociedade de Mediação Imobiliária, Lda, whose main office and registered seat are at Rua do Barranco, Carvoeiro. It has further offices in Albufeira, Almancil and Tavira, so it covers the central and eastern Algarve from one company and one licence. The British-origin brand concentrates on upper-market homes; its Tavira-area listings ran from €670,000 to about €3 million when we checked. It does not list staff languages. AMI 9767, verified on IMPIC. The website does not say whether it represents buyers. Ocean Country in Lagos is a separate company that trades as a network member (AMI 5653).

Tradeoff: it works at the upper end; for a modest flat, ask how many comparable sales it has handled.

KW Flash Algarve (Keller Williams)

KW Flash Algarve is a Keller Williams franchise run by the Real Flash group, with offices in Lagos, Portimão (Rua Vicente Vaz das Vacas) and Albufeira (Rua Manuel Teixeira Gomes). The western Algarve company, Realflash Barlavento – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda, holds AMI 23329, verified on IMPIC, with its licence registered at Alcantarilha, Silves. Its KW page listed about 105 consultants in September 2026. Keller Williams is an agent-led model: consultants work largely for themselves under the brand. The pages we read do not list languages, a price segment or whether it represents buyers, so ask for an English-speaking consultant who has sold in your town.

Tradeoff: the group trades through several companies, so confirm which one signs your contract.

LUXIMOS Christie’s International Real Estate

LUXIMOS Christie’s is the Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate for the Algarve, Porto and the north, run by Mediapredium – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda, whose registered seat is in Marco de Canaveses, near Porto. Its Central Algarve office is at Semino, Quarteira, between Vilamoura and Vale do Lobo, and its Western Algarve office is on Avenida dos Descobrimentos in Lagos. It works in the premium segment. AMI 9063, verified on IMPIC. The website does not state languages or say whether it represents buyers. Porta da Frente Christie’s, often quoted in the press, is the separate Lisbon-coast affiliate; it is not the Christie’s firm in the Algarve.

Tradeoff: the company is headquartered in the north, with the Algarve as one of its regions.

Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty (Algarve)

Portugal Sotheby’s International Realty has two Algarve offices, each a separate licensed company. The Carvoeiro office, at Rua do Povo do Burro 3, is Carvoeiroazul – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda (AMI 10437). The Vilamoura office, at Avenida da Marina, Edifício Vila Lusa, Loja 5, is Máscarazul – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda (AMI 8904); it names Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo in its area. Both licences newly verified on IMPIC on 28 September 2026. The brand works in the luxury segment, and its website is in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish. It says Sotheby’s has operated in Portugal since 2007. Neither office page says it represents buyers.

Tradeoff: we have not yet profiled either office on our area lists, and the two offices are different companies.

RE/MAX (Algarve franchises)

RE/MAX offices are independently owned franchises. The ones we profiled are RE/MAX Diamond, Lagos (Arribas & Encantos, AMI 8592); RE/MAX Platina II, Portimão (Sigmaplatina Sul, AMI 12612); RE/MAX Albufeira Praia (Mediax, AMI 6640) and RE/MAX Albufeira Smart (Skyimage, AMI 7433); RE/MAX Vilamoura and Quarteira, including the premium RE/MAX Collection label (Maxidomus, AMI 1718); and RE/MAX Tavira (Maxloja, AMI 4515). All verified on IMPIC. Most work in general residential sales. Only Albufeira Praia lists its languages (eight). RE/MAX advertises a “free, personalised service for buyers”, which is help with a search, not exclusive buyer representation.

Tradeoff: commission and service vary from office to office, and you instruct an individual consultant.

Algarve independents with several offices

Casas do Sotavento

Casas do Sotavento is run by Limite Disponível – Unipessoal, Lda, with its registered seat in Castro Marim. It has shops in Vila Real de Santo António, Monte Gordo, Castro Marim, Tavira, Olhão and Quinta do Lago, and handles sales and rentals across the Sotavento (the eastern Algarve). It had the largest portfolio on our Tavira list, about 320 listings on idealista. The website is in Portuguese and English. AMI 17215, verified on IMPIC. The website does not say whether it represents buyers. It is the only agency we profiled with shops east of Tavira, relevant for owners in Altura, Manta Rota or Monte Gordo.

Tradeoff: it is mainly a Portuguese-market agency with English service.

Exclusive Algarve Villas

Exclusive Algarve Villas is the trading name of Exclusive Living – Mediação Imobiliária, Lda, a boutique founded in 2006 with its registered seat in Lagoa. It has three offices: Rua Dr. Ernesto Cabrita in Lagoa, Avenida Tivoli in Vilamoura, and Lagos. It concentrates on high-end villas and covers Carvoeiro, Vilamoura, Quarteira, Almancil, Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo. It lists English, Portuguese, Dutch, German and French, and the Lagoa office is Dutch-speaking. AMI 7516, verified on IMPIC. The website does not say whether it represents buyers. It offers buy-to-let yield estimates, which may help where the likely buyer is an investor.

Tradeoff: its focus is luxury villas; ask which of its three offices would handle yours.

Gatehouse International Algarve

Gatehouse International Algarve is run by Gatehouse International Mediação Imobiliária, Lda, with its registered office at Rua da República 21, Almancil. It describes itself as one of the largest Algarve real estate networks, with more than 20 years in the region, and trades at algarveprop.com. It covers the whole Algarve rather than one town. It does not state the languages its team speaks or whether it represents buyers. AMI 8590, verified on IMPIC. Ask whether your property would be handled by its own staff or passed to a partner agency, and who would sign your contract.

Tradeoff: it has one registered office, in Almancil, so ask how it covers your part of the coast.

Knight Frank (through Mapro Real Estate, AMI 317) and Savills (through QP Savills, AMI 1252) work only around the Golden Triangle; see that area list.

Which agencies work in each part of the Algarve?

The INE figures are medians actually paid for homes in the 12 months to June 2026; the idealista figures are average asking prices in August 2026. Across the region the INE median was €3,338/m², up 14.2% in a year.

Lagos and Praia da Luz. INE median €3,949/m² (Luz parish €4,291); idealista asking €4,655/m². Foreign-domiciled buyers paid 20.0% more per m² than domestic buyers. A western Algarve market of villas, town flats and Luz holiday homes. We profile 12 agencies and 4 buyer’s agents, including two offices in Luz village: Lagos estate agents.

Portimão and Alvor. INE median €3,259/m²; asking €3,587/m². The cheapest entry point on the western coast, with Praia da Rocha flats, Alvor village and a more domestic buyer pool (foreign buyers paid 21.3% more). 12 agencies and 4 buyer’s agents: Portimão & Alvor estate agents.

Carvoeiro and Lagoa. INE median €3,371/m²; asking €4,113/m². Clifftop villas, resort units and Ferragudo townhouses; fewer than three in ten Carvoeiro village homes are main homes, so most sellers are second-home owners. 11 agencies and 3 buyer’s agents, several Dutch-speaking: Carvoeiro & Lagoa estate agents.

Albufeira. INE median €3,490/m²; asking €4,168/m². Resort apartments, the Oura strip, Olhos de Água and Guia villas; prices rose more slowly (+11.3%) than the region. 11 agencies and 3 buyer’s agents: Albufeira estate agents.

Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo. Almancil parish INE median €5,617/m² (€7,817 for four-bed-plus homes); Quinta do Lago asking €10,967/m². The prime end: foreign-domiciled buyers paid 77% more per m² than domestic buyers. 13 agencies and 3 buyer’s agents, including the Knight Frank, Savills and Christie’s affiliates: Golden Triangle estate agents.

Vilamoura. Quarteira parish INE median €4,482/m²; Vilamoura asking €5,150/m². Marina apartments, golf villas and resort units, many inside licensed tourist developments. See Vilamoura estate agents.

Tavira and the east. INE median €3,282/m²; asking €3,574/m². Old-town townhouses, Cabanas flats and inland quintas, with lower prices than the central Algarve; foreign buyers paid 6.8% more (Q2 2026). 12 agencies and 4 buyer’s agents: Tavira estate agents.

Buyer’s agents covering the whole Algarve

A buyer’s agent is hired by the buyer and does not list homes, so these firms are for buyers, not sellers. For a seller, one may bring a buyer to your listing agency. All licences verified on IMPIC.

Buyer’s agent	Company	Base	AMI	Fees
Algarve House Hunters	Rebecca Jane Charles, Unipessoal Lda	Tavira	24272	Not published
Goldcrest Advisers	Golden Solstice, Lda	Lagoa (head office Lisbon)	23310	“Vary”; not published
Portugal Buyers	Henderson Realty, Unipessoal Lda	Loulé	26180	Not published
The Buyer’s Agent Algarve	Jennifer Crutchley, Unipessoal Lda	Almancil	24024	Describes buyer support as “fee-free”
The Buyer’s Agent Portugal	Singlessence, Lda	Loulé	23932	Engagement fee plus success fee (amounts not published)

Lagos Homes (AMI 21692) is a one-person buyer’s agent covering Lagos only. Because no agency can be paid by both sides, ask any “fee-free” buyer’s agent exactly who pays it. More in buyer’s agents in Portugal.

How to choose an agent to sell in the Algarve

What commission should I expect?

Commonly about 5% plus 23% VAT, paid by the seller at the deed, with a range of roughly 3–6%. There is no legal rate, and the contract must state the commission and duration (Lei 15/2013, article 16). On a €450,000 home:

	5% + 23% VAT	4% + 23% VAT
Commission	€22,500	€18,000
VAT	€5,175	€4,140
Total	€27,675	€22,140

One percentage point is worth €5,535. See estate agent commission.

Exclusive or open contract?

An exclusive contract often buys a lower rate; keep it to three to six months and note the date for giving notice. A contract with no stated duration lasts six months (article 16(3)). Under exclusivity, commission is owed if the sale fails through your fault (article 19(2)). The alternative is an open (non-exclusive) contract with two or three agencies at a higher rate. See switching estate agent.

How do I check the licence?

Search the AMI number on the IMPIC register or gov.pt, then check that the company name matches the one on your contract. With franchises it rarely matches the shop sign: Engel & Völkers, ERA and RE/MAX each run through five or six different companies in the Algarve.

Does the time of year matter?

INE publishes no seasonal demand figures for the Algarve. Algarve sales fell 12.4% year on year in Q2 2026. Tavira-based Compass Property Sales reported fewer viewing trips from Scandinavia and the Benelux in autumn and early winter 2025, an agency’s observation rather than a statistic. Since 10 April 2026 the EU Entry/Exit System enforces the 90-days-in-180 limit for British and other non-EU visitors. Ask each agency in which months its buyers actually view.

Which nationalities buy where?

In 2025 the Algarve took 29.7% of all home purchases in Portugal by buyers domiciled abroad and 42.4% of their spending (INE, reported by idealista). INE does not publish nationality by town. Engel & Völkers reports that about 80% of Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo buyers are international, mainly from the UK, Ireland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and 75% in Vilamoura, led by Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium; it places international demand in the “Vilamoura, Albufeira and Lagos triangle”. These are one agency’s figures, not official statistics. In the east, Fastighetsbyrån and Tagus Property serve Swedish and French speakers.

How does the 7.5% non-resident IMT change the buyer pool?

Since 25 May 2026 non-resident buyers pay a flat 7.5% IMT (property transfer tax) on homes (Decree-Law 97/2026), unless they were ever Portuguese tax resident; they can reclaim the difference if they become resident within two years or let at a moderate rent. Because ordinary rates already reach 6% and then 7.5%, the extra cost shrinks with price:

Price (second home)	IMT at ordinary 2026 rates	IMT for a non-resident	Extra
€450,000	€23,300	€33,750	€10,450
€800,000	€48,000	€60,000	€12,000
€2,000,000	€150,000	€150,000	€0

The rule bites below about €1.15m, which covers most Algarve apartments and townhouses. Check your own figures with the IMT calculator.

Renting your home out rather than selling? See property management and holiday-let companies in the Algarve.

Key points

There is no official ranking of estate agents in the Algarve. This page profiles 13 agencies and networks that sell across several towns, grouped by type and alphabetical, not ranked; our seven area lists cover single-office firms.
Every AMI number was checked on the IMPIC register in September 2026. Franchise brands run through different companies in each town, so check the number on your own contract.
The Algarve’s Christie’s affiliate is LUXIMOS, and Sotheby’s has two separate companies in Carvoeiro and Vilamoura.
INE medians paid run from €3,259/m² in Portimão to €5,617/m² in Almancil parish; asking prices sit 9–22% higher in most towns.
Commission is commonly about 5% plus 23% VAT and negotiable; one point on €450,000 is €5,535.
The 7.5% non-resident IMT adds about €10,000–€16,500 for buyers below €1.15m and nothing above it.

General information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change and personal circumstances matter, so confirm your position with a Portuguese tax adviser or lawyer before acting. Updated 26 October 2026.