Selling an apartment or villa in an Algarve resort (tourist development) in 2026

Is my unit in a tourist development or an ordinary flat?

Many Algarve “resort” homes are ordinary flats in a condominium, sometimes with a short-let (AL) registration. Others sit inside a licensed tourist development in plural ownership (empreendimento turístico em propriedade plural): an aldeamento turístico (tourist village), apartamentos turísticos (tourist apartments) or a conjunto turístico (resort). The two are sold under different rules, so check first.

Document	Where to get it	Points to a tourist development if…
Certidão permanente (land registry certificate)	Online, valid 6 months	It refers to a registered título constitutivo of a tourist development, or the unit is described as a tourist accommodation unit
Caderneta predial (tax record)	Portal das Finanças, free	The use (afetação) is services or tourism rather than housing (habitação)
Use licence	Council or your purchase file	It is an alvará de autorização de utilização para fins turísticos (tourist use), not for housing
Your purchase deed	Your own records	It attached the constitution title and stated a periodic charge
National Tourism Register (RNT/RNET)	Turismo de Portugal website	The development appears as an empreendimento turístico with a classification (stars)
Management contract	The operator	You signed a contract giving the operator the right to run your unit

If your unit turns out to be an ordinary flat with an AL registration, see selling a short-let property instead.

What does the law require when you sell?

The rules are in chapter VIII of Decree-Law 39/2008 (articles 52 to 64). We read the consolidated text published on the Diário da República as at 17 March 2020.

Article	Rule	What it means for your sale
54(6)	The constitution title must be registered at the land registry before any sale or promissory contract	Unregistered title: stop and ask your lawyer before signing anything
54(7)	The CPCV (promissory contract) and the deed must include a copy of the registered constitution title, a copy of the operator’s exploitation title (the article 45(3) title), and the periodic charge due in the first year, sob pena de nulidade (on pain of nullity)	Missing any of the three makes the contract void. Collect all three before you accept an offer
54(8)	The buyer succeeds to your rights and obligations towards the operator	Your buyer inherits your management arrangement, good or bad
45(1)	Units are permanently in tourist operation, run by the operator even when owners occupy them	The buyer is buying into an operated development
45(6)	Units cannot be operated directly by their owners or be subject to contracts that compromise tourist use, including residential leases	Neither you nor your buyer can let the unit independently, on a short or long let
56(8)	Unpaid periodic charges and interest are a privileged charge on the unit	Clear arrears before the deed, or the buyer’s lawyer will insist on it
57(2)	Works, even inside the unit, need the administrator’s prior authorisation	Unauthorised works can be reversed at the owner’s cost; disclose them

Has the law changed since? Turismo de Portugal lists six amendments to Decree-Law 39/2008, the last being Decree-Law 9/2021, and none after it. Article 54 was last amended in 2015 and article 56 in 2014; the numbering of articles 45 and 54(7) is the same in the original 2008 text and the 2020 consolidated text, and both versions require all three documents. We have not checked Decree-Law 9/2021 article by article, so ask your lawyer to confirm against the current consolidated text.

Are older resorts different?

Often, yes. Many Algarve developments date from the 1970s to the early 2000s.

• Title already deposited before 2008. Chapter VIII does not apply to developments whose constitution title was already accepted in deposit when Decree-Law 39/2008 came into force. They stay under the older Decree-Law 167/97 and its regulations (article 64(1)).
• Older operating regime kept. Plural-ownership developments that existed in 2008 keep the operating regime in force when they were licensed, unless every owner unanimously opts into the 2008 regime (article 75(12)).
• Reconverted to AL. Older developments that could not keep a tourist classification were reconverted into AL establishments (article 75(4)).

So the rules for your unit depend on your development’s history. Your lawyer should read the actual constitution title and the licence, not assume the 2008 regime applies.

What about service charges and the management company?

In a plural-ownership development you pay a prestação periódica (periodic charge) to the administrator, which is normally the operator (articles 56 and 58).

• What it covers: maintenance and running of the development and the units, reception, security and cleaning, the auditor and the administrator’s fee (article 56(2)–(3)).
• Reserve fund: at least 4% of the charge goes to a reserve fund for repairs (article 56(9)).
• Accounts: audited yearly by a statutory auditor and sent to owners before the annual general meeting (article 60).
• Changing the administrator: owners can remove an administrator that breaches its duties, by a majority of the votes of the whole development, if a new one is appointed at the same meeting (articles 62–63).

Resort infrastructure fees are separate. In Vale do Lobo, for example, owners pay Infralobo a public services fee, €15.58 per bedroom a month before VAT in the resort’s 2025 buyer’s guide. Quinta do Lago (Infraquinta) and Vilamoura (Inframoura) have their own companies. Give buyers the latest bills for both charges.

Can you, or your buyer, leave the rental pool?

In a development under the 2008 regime, not as an individual owner. Article 45(6) forbids owners from running their units directly, and the article 45(3) title must let the operator run all units. The title sets your share of letting income and the terms on which you can stay in your own unit (article 45(4)). Owners as a body can decide by majority to close the development (article 49(2)), which is a collective decision.

If your “resort” is an ordinary condominium where a letting company manages units by contract, exit is governed by that contract’s notice period. Give buyers the contract and the date it can end.

Who buys resort units, and at what price?

Buyers. Mainly holiday and lifestyle buyers who want a managed second home, and investors content with operator-run letting income. Buyers wanting a permanent home, a long let or their own AL registration are poor matches, because article 45(6) stops all three.

Price. We found no dataset comparing resort-unit prices with ordinary homes. The INE medians on our area pages cover all homes. Two factors push resort units below comparable ordinary flats: the narrower buyer pool, and the fact that letting income is set by the operator, not the owner. Law professors quoted by CNN Portugal in the Palmela Village case said homes classed as tourist units are typically worth less than homes with a housing licence; that is an opinion, not a measurement. Against that, managed services and resort facilities attract some buyers. Algarve sales fell 12.4% in Q2 2026 (INE), so price from completed sales in your development, not neighbours’ asking prices.

The buyer’s transfer tax depends on the unit’s classification. Since 25 May 2026, non-resident buyers pay a flat 7.5% IMT on property “destinado exclusivamente a habitação” (Decree-Law 97/2026). A unit registered for another use pays the 6.5% rate for other urban property (article 17(1)(e) of the IMT Code). Check your caderneta; whether a given resort unit counts as housing is a question for the buyer’s lawyer.

Can buyers get a mortgage on a tourist unit?

Banco de Portugal limits loans to 90% of value for an own and permanent home and 80% for other purposes, which covers holiday homes. Beyond that we could not verify any public bank policy on tourist-use units. Lenders usually value and lend against the licence and the land registry description, and some may treat a unit that cannot be a residence as unsuitable for a housing loan. Treat this as unconfirmed. In practice, expect most buyers to pay cash or borrow against assets at home. idealista reported in August 2026 that non-residents are taking out fewer Portuguese mortgages.

Worked example: what you receive

A two-bedroom unit in a tourist development sold for €300,000, seller living in the UK, with €1,800 of unpaid periodic charges.

Item	Amount
Sale price	€300,000
Commission 5%	−€15,000
VAT on commission 23%	−€3,450
Energy certificate (typical)	−€250
Land registry certificate	−€15
Lawyer, €1,500 plus 23% VAT (illustrative quote)	−€1,845
Periodic-charge arrears cleared at the deed (illustrative)	−€1,800
Received at the deed	€277,640

For comparison, the buyer’s IMT on the same price would be €22,500 at 7.5% if the unit is housing, or €19,500 at 6.5% if it is other urban property, plus 0.8% stamp duty (€2,400). Capital gains tax comes later: non-residents are taxed on 50% of the gain at progressive rates, and the commission and VAT reduce the gain. See capital gains tax for non-residents, costs of selling and the selling calculator.

Checklist before you list

1. Land registry certificate showing the registered constitution title.
2. A copy of the constitution title, including the administration regulation (article 55(3)).
3. A copy of the operator’s exploitation title for your unit, and your management contract.
4. The periodic charge for the current year and the first-year figure for the buyer; a statement showing no arrears.
5. The last two years of audited accounts, AGM minutes and the administration programme.
6. Letting statements for your unit (income, occupancy, owner-use days).
7. Caderneta predial, use licence, energy certificate, and the RNT entry for the development.
8. Written authorisation for any works you carried out (article 57(2)); see unlicensed works.
9. Infrastructure-company bills (Infralobo, Infraquinta, Inframoura or equivalent).
10. If you live abroad, a power of attorney for the deed; see selling as a non-resident.

Area-specific prices and rules are on our pages for the Golden Triangle, Albufeira, Carvoeiro and Lagoa and Lagos.

Key points

• Under article 54(7) of Decree-Law 39/2008, the CPCV and deed must include the registered constitution title, the operator’s exploitation title and the first-year periodic charge, or the contract is void.
• Owners cannot let units in these developments themselves, on short or long lets (article 45(6)); the buyer steps into your position with the operator.
• Developments whose title was deposited before 2008 may still follow Decree-Law 167/97 and their original operating regime; read your own title.
• Clear periodic-charge arrears before the deed; they are a privileged charge on the unit.
• Expect a narrower pool of holiday and investor buyers, mostly paying cash; price from sales in your own development.