Seven cities in “Golden Visas”: what a property ranking looks like without residency permits (VНЖ)

The “Golden Visa” mechanism is often presented as a single package: you receive the right to live in the country and, at the same time, you buy a property. In practice, most buyers focus first on residency permits (VНЖ)—the timelines, the conditions, and how mobile the permit makes you—while treating the property itself less often as a pure investment asset.

But in the IMI Global Property Scoreboard (GPS) study, the priorities are different: each city’s market is assessed exclusively using real-estate investment parameters, with no link to the visa program. That’s why the ranking order looks noticeably different from visa-focused marketing.

Below are seven cities that most commonly appear in “Golden Visa” stories tied to property purchases. Important: this does not mean that all programs are still open.

Key takeaway: if you evaluate only the property, the leaders and laggards swap places.

Recalculated using GPS methodology, Abu Dhabi comes first with 30 points. Next are Dubai with 21 and Valletta with 18. Limassol sits in the middle at 7. Madrid, Lisbon, and Athens rank lower—6, 4, and 2 respectively.

At the same time, two countries stopped linking “Golden Visa” status to buying housing: Spain closed the program for new applications in April 2025, while Portugal removed property from the Golden Visa scheme back in 2023.

For Madrid and Lisbon, buying property is effectively a standalone transaction: the visa “bonus” is no longer attached to the specific asset.

What exactly does the Global Property Scoreboard (GPS) measure?

GPS evaluates real-estate investment attractiveness across seven blocks. Weights are distributed as follows: Property fundamentals (yield, price dynamics, liquidity, supply) — 30%, Demand — 20%. The remaining parameters—Costs, Access, Governance, Macro, and Resilience—carry 10% each.

At the same time, transaction costs and key property taxes are counted under Costs, not within the “Property” indicators.

The methodology also highlights that investors often underestimate exit liquidity—how easy it will be to sell the asset in 5–10 years. In GPS, this is reflected as a factor affecting the overall result.

For markets with restrictions on foreign ownership, GPS applies a Foreign Ownership Limitations Penalty: minus 3 points for light restrictions, 5 for moderate restrictions, and 8 for severe restrictions. “Friction” includes ownership zones, permit requirements, title-specific features, banking procedures, and limitations on repatriating funds.

Both open and restricted markets are ranked together. The logic is that both types may be accessible to international investors. The higher the final score, the stronger the baseline investment fundamentals.

Overall, GPS covers 146 cities, but this publication focuses specifically on seven “visa” locations.

Abu Dhabi (30)

Abu Dhabi tops the ranking with the largest margin among all cities in the list. In the GPS index, the city ranks 3rd out of 146. Its lead is explained not so much by “headline” yield figures, but by a combination of fundamental factors and ownership/transaction costs.

One of the key reasons is the tax regime: in the Emirates there is no personal income tax, no annual property taxes, and no capital gains tax (CGT). At the same time, the estimated round-trip transaction cost is about 6%—lower than in Dubai and the minimum among the seven cities.

Within-city gross yield is in the mid range—around 5.7% in central areas. Apartment prices in the $5,700 per m² range, while in investment zones (e.g., Saadiyat, Yas, Al Reem) the benchmarks are roughly $4,000–$7,000 per m².

Link to the “Golden Visa”: UAE Golden Visa residency implies a renewable 10-year permit when you own property worth at least AED 2 million (about $545k). There is also no minimum stay requirement.

Ownership limitation: foreigners can hold freehold only in designated investment zones—this is exactly what GPS reflects through the penalty for restrictions.

Dubai (21)

Dubai ranks second in this group and 25th out of 146 overall in the GPS ranking. Its tax profile is similar to Abu Dhabi: no personal income tax, no annual property tax, and no CGT. It also reduces “currency tail risk” since the UAE dirham is pegged to the US dollar.

Dubai’s main advantage is yield. Cavendish Maxwell data suggests average apartment yield could be around 7% (starting in early 2026), while villa yield is closer to 5%.

The estimated round-trip transaction cost is around 8%. The largest line item is Dubai Land Department’s commission at about 4%.

Under the visa logic, the same UAE Golden Visa mechanism and the same property threshold apply—AED 2 million. But, as in Abu Dhabi, freehold for non-residents is limited to investment zones.

At the same time, GPS captures a weaker Resilience score related to regional risks. The penalty for foreign ownership restrictions is also included.

Investor risk #1: supply. The share of deals at the construction stage among 2024 transactions was estimated at roughly 63%, and project completion timelines may stretch by tens of thousands of units up to as late as 2027.

Valletta (18)

Valletta is the “anchor” of the Greater Valletta market (Sliema, St Julian’s, Msida), effectively setting the investment agenda for Malta.

Valletta scores well on cost advantages: rental income is taxed at 15% via withholding at source, and an 8% property transfer tax works as a kind of “low” CGT analogue. At the same time, there is no annual property tax.

Central yield is estimated at about 5.3%, while the premium price benchmark is around €5,000 per m². Price growth in euros over the last decade is estimated at 60–80%, meaning “entry” is no longer cheap.

Demand is supported by a structure that’s unusual for a Mediterranean island: the iGaming sector provides jobs for more than 15,000 people in a country of roughly 560,000 residents. Fintech and English-language financial services are also present.

Residency-program connection: in GPS, this is tied to the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP). Eligibility requires purchasing property from €375,000, or renting from €14,000 per year, plus a government contribution.

Citizenship-by-investment has been closed after the European Court of Justice decision in April 2025, but the residency program remains.

Limassol (7)

Limassol is Cyprus’s key international business hub and one of the few cities on the list that keeps yields noticeably above the group “average”: after Dubai, it has the highest yield, around 6%.

Support comes from a price-to-rent ratio of roughly 17, as well as the presence of mid-market areas (e.g., Germasogeia) that trade below the coastal “luxury” line.

On taxes and costs, GPS shows a fairly balanced profile: there is no annual property tax, but a 20% CGT applies to gains on Cypriot property. Estimated round-trip transaction costs are in the range of about 8–14%.

Residency-program connection: based on Cyprus’s residence-by-investment scheme: it requires purchasing new property from €300,000 and proving €50,000 in annual foreign income.

Key differences from citizenship: the path leads to residency (not a passport). Cyprus is also not part of the Schengen Area, so the permit itself does not grant direct Schengen access.

Madrid (6)

Madrid is a deep, liquid market and—largely by demand structure—it behaves like an owner-occupier market. In GPS, it earns the best Governance score among the seven cities thanks to strong evaluations in access and resilience.

However, the overall result drops due to weak Costs and Demand within the index. Central yields are comparatively modest—around 3.9%. Still, the round-trip transaction cost can be high: after factoring in transfer tax, fees, and commissions, the benchmark is roughly 10–20%.

For non-EU residents, withholding on rental income is also higher.

Over the last 10 years, price growth is estimated at about 31%. At the same time, Madrid remains attractive for liquidity and value retention in certain premium neighborhoods (e.g., Salamanca and Chamberí).

Why the “Golden Visa” no longer matters here: there is no separate visa bonus attached to buying property. Spain closed the program for new applications on April 3, 2025 (Organic Law 1/2025). Applications submitted before the cutoff were assessed under the previous rules, and issued permits remain valid within their term.

So, buying in Madrid in the context of Golden Visas is now evaluated as pure property investment.

Lisbon (4)

Lisbon shows the weakest Property score in the group: yield and core fundamentals lag behind the others. Meanwhile, on Governance, Resilience, and Access it is among the leaders.

The main reason for the gap is real-estate fundamentals: a decade of demand outpacing supply pushed prices to rise by more than double since 2015. In central Lisbon, the benchmarks are roughly €6,000–€7,000 per m².

Because entry costs have increased, central gross yield has compressed to about 4.6%. Round-trip transaction costs are estimated at 12–17% after accounting for IMT, stamp duty, and commissions. The tax burden on rental income is around 28%.

Why the Golden Visa is no longer tied to an apartment: Portugal removed property from the Golden Visa in 2023. In addition, the Non-Habitual Resident regime was also closed for new participants.

There is also a political risk: restrictions on new short-term rental licenses (Alojamento Local) in the busiest parishes have already been introduced, and further measures due to housing pressure cannot be ruled out.

Athens (2)

Athens is the most telling example of when “reputation” gets ahead of the numbers. In GPS, it has the lowest fundamentals score among the seven cities, and its overall position is 101st out of 146.

In the 2010s, Athens was a “distressed” market, but the recovery turned out to be fast: prices over a decade rose by more than 50%, and in strong areas by more than 80% from the 2017 low.

As a result, yields fell to about 3.9%, while estimated round-trip transaction costs are 12–17%.

At the same time, the entry price threshold is relatively lower: premium benchmarks are around $4,000–$5,000 per m². Greece also had a suspension of capital gains tax on property, which helps sustain investor interest.

Residency via the program remains: it is based on the Greek Golden Visa. In 2024, the investment threshold was raised to €800,000, and properties that meet the requirements limit opportunities to rent on short-term platforms.

For investors, however, the key risk is title and cadastral details: an incomplete cadastre map, informal extensions, and unregistered inheritance chains increase the importance of thorough due diligence.

What this difference means: GPS vs a “visa-first” approach

GPS evaluates not the right to live, but the asset itself—real estate. A high score means the property may look resilient in terms of yield, price, costs, and stability.

At the same time, the index does not measure the value of a specific residency permit: it doesn’t price the permit’s cost, the actual presence requirements, the mobility the program provides, or how it affects your strategy.

That’s why the ranking “flip” is logical: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Valletta are strong on investment-grade real estate, but they also impose restrictions on foreign ownership—GPS already accounts for this via penalties.

On the other hand, Athens has a low investment score, yet it may offer something not visible in the fundamental assessment: 5-year residency with Schengen access and no minimum stay requirement. For some investors, lower yield can be an acceptable price for an EU “entry point.”

The most complex cases are Madrid and Lisbon. In both places, buying property is no longer accompanied by visa rights, so there is nothing to offset low yields or high taxes. You’re left with evaluating only the property—and on that test, they don’t lead.

Conclusion: how investors can make a decision

The practical discipline is to separate the two purchases that “Golden Visas” often bundle into one story, and evaluate each one by its own rules.

If your goal is residency: the program terms (cost, presence requirements, and prospects for renewal/status changes) should drive the decision. In this case, the property is a tool.

If your goal is an asset: real-estate fundamentals should be the main criterion. Then the ranking order will be closer to the “reversed” version of the popular visa list.

For Madrid and Lisbon, the question is already simplified: since there is no longer a visa bonus tied to the purchase, it comes down to one equation—and by that equation, the leaders are different.

If you’re considering a Golden Visa via real estate, it’s crucial to look beyond marketing—focus on the investment logic of each market: liquidity, price momentum, and real return potential. At Digital Nomad, we help you compare countries and cities based on current program conditions and clarify when property purchase truly works as an investment on its own. Start here: https://digital-nomad.gr/en/goldenvisa.

Our Telegram channel about various types of Greek residence permits, digital nomad programs, and the Greek Golden Visa: @digitalnomadgr