Today, Portugal competes for something different: people who can choose where to live, work, invest and build their future.

This change helps to explain many of the phenomena that currently mark the real estate market. The rise in demand for housing in cities such as Lisbon, Cascais, Porto or the Algarve is not only the result of greater tourist demand or financial investment. It is also the result of a deeper transformation: the growing international mobility of people and heritage. Julius Baer's latest study shows this reality precisely, showing that high-net-worth individuals today make increasingly global decisions about where to live, manage their assets and diversify risk. Political stability, security, the quality of institutions, access to health services, education and quality of life began to weigh as much as strictly financial factors.

In this context, Portugal has become a naturally competitive destination. Membership of the European Union and the Eurozone, security, climate, institutional stability and quality of life make the country a rational choice for many international families. For those who can work remotely, manage companies remotely or distribute their assets across different geographies, the decision to live in Portugal is part of a long-term strategy.

It is precisely here that the debate on housing must gain greater depth. The property is not the starting point of this decision; it is its consequence. Before buying a house, you choose a country, an economic environment, a legal system, a community and an expectation of the future.

Portugal benefits from this choice, but it also faces a clear challenge: the capacity to attract new international residents has grown faster than the capacity to build enough housing to meet everyone's needs. This is an issue that cannot be solved by driving away investment or limiting people's mobility, but by increasing supply, accelerating licensing, promoting urban rehabilitation and creating conditions for the market to be able to respond to an increasingly diversified demand.

In a world where talent and wealth are increasingly mobile, countries compete less for factories and more for the confidence they can transmit. Portugal has conquered a relevant position in that competition. The challenge now is to ensure that this advantage benefits both those who choose to arrive and those who have always lived here.