Quinta do LagoPortugal's Mediterranean coast has a good mix of properties from €1m-plus villas in the 'golden triangle' to apartments for under €300,000, says Fiona Tyrrell

One in three English-speaking buyers in the Algarve is Irish, according to the director of a new property service based in the heartland of Portuguese golf estate country at the Denis O'Brien-owned Quinta do Lago.

As jitters about the Spanish property market continue it looks as if Portugal, Spain's Iberian neighbour, is increasingly becoming an attractive alternative.

Properties on The Algarve have always been in high demand by British buyers, according to Sylvia Bauer from Quintaviews. Irish interest was strong, but tapered off until re-emerging in the last 18 months.

Since then, there's been a significant increase in the number of Irish buyers, she says.

Now one third of all English speaking buyers are Irish. And the Irish presence is strong in the Algarve's golden triangle of Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo and Almancil, she says.

Quintaviews, set up by Bauer and her Irish-born partner Leona O'Neill, specialises in a property finding service for Irish clients.

The aim is to take all the legwork, time wasting and repetition out of house hunting by presenting clients with a portfolio of properties that suits their needs and lifestyle, according to Bauer.

The company makes its money, on successful completion of a transaction, from the property developer, estate agent or private seller.

At the higher end of the market buyers are paying between €2.5 million and €3.5 million for four to five-bedroom villas with sea views in Vale do Lobo, says Ms Bauer.

The Algarve has been popular with Irish buyers from the early days of McInerney-built timeshare villas through to the development of gated luxury quintas.

And development there is continuing apace, even when it seems as if the coast of southern Portugal has as many golf courses, apartments and villas as it can accommodate.

Developments spread from the far west of the region, around Lagos, to the far east, near the Spanish border. Properties range from apartments for under €300,000 to over €3 million for villas in some of the luxury golf resorts in the Algarve's "golden triangle". In Quinta do Lago itself, €3.5 million to €4.5 million will get you a large property with great views, says Bauer.

Oceanico Developments, a Portuguese-based property and golf resort company, hit the headlines recently when it bought five Vilamoura golf courses in the Algarve.

The golf resort company is run by Gerard Fagan, from Drogheda, and Simon Burgess from Cheshire, England.

And O Pomar, a development launched last year by Newlyn Portugal, a branch of Bray-based Newlyn Group, attracted Irish buyers to Cabanas de Tavira, a fishing village turned resort 20kms from the Spanish border.

The last phase of this development is now available, with apartments and townhouses costing from €235,000.

In Lagos, over 100 kms away, another new resort, Cascade, is being launched today.

www. quintaviews.com