Global Citizen Solutions, a residency and citizenship planning consultancy, has published its report, Best Destinations for Owning a Vacation Home as an HNWI: The Lifestyle Perspective. The study ranks 20 global markets and concludes that seven of the top ten destinations for HNWIs (high-net-worth individuals) are located in Europe.
The analysis examines 20 established global markets, represented by their flagship luxury vacation home destinations, and evaluates them based on three criteria: real estate market quality, quality of life and lifestyle, and destination accessibility.
The study’s main conclusion is that the highest-ranked destinations are not those that excel in a single category, but rather those that perform strongly across all three simultaneously.
The fact that seven of the top ten destinations are European is due, according to Global Citizen Solutions (GCS), to a combination that is difficult to find in other regions: favorable weather, high-quality infrastructure, political stability, and accessible rules for foreign buyers. In the words of Patricia Casaburi, CEO of Global Citizen Solutions: “Europe’s leadership here is structural, not accidental. The leading markets share a rare alignment of climate, luxury infrastructure, security, and ease of purchase that continues to make the continent attractive to lifestyle-oriented buyers.”
Spain stands out for its balance between strong property appreciation and the highest quality-of-life score in the study. Portugal, meanwhile, recorded the highest appreciation in the ranking (a 17.7% increase in median bank appraisal values through October 2025), a strong safety index, and relatively accessible entry prices—factors that support rental yield potential in markets such as the Algarve and Comporta.
France and Italy, meanwhile, attract HNWIs through long-term demand and prestige, even with more moderate growth or higher entry prices. Austria and Switzerland offer near-maximum levels of security and a limited supply of properties. The United States leads in air connectivity, while Greece ranks highest for climate, with the greatest number of sunshine hours in the study. Niseko, Japan, and Queenstown, New Zealand, are also attractive from a portfolio perspective, offering diversification and high levels of safety.
The analysis also identifies a clear divide between two types of markets. Southern European destinations—Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy—appeal to buyers seeking lifestyle, capital appreciation, and a property they will use throughout the season. Alpine markets, by contrast, are favored by those seeking intergenerational value: limited supply and buyers who tend to hold properties for generations. Austria and Switzerland achieved the highest safety scores in the study. Austria is the more accessible of the two for foreign buyers, with less restrictive purchasing rules.
Liana Simonyan, researcher at the Global Intelligence Unit of GCS, adds: “Using a three-pillar framework, this index ranks twenty established luxury markets, with deliberately greater weight assigned to lifestyle and destination appeal than to real estate fundamentals—a methodological decision based on how high-net-worth individuals actually experience their vacation homes.”
By Alicia Miguel