International investors invest in Portuguese real estate market

The year 2017 was a fantastic year for the real estate market, which saw a tremendous growth and broke the previous year's record by closing in with nineteen hundred million euros.

This improvement in the real estate market, which as we know was one of the most affected by the economic crisis, is due partly to foreign investment. With around 18% of total property deals in 2017, international investors were invaluable players in real estate growth, helping in turn to attract the interest of several companies that are now proposing to carry out projects that promise to make 2018 an even more profitable year for agencies in this market.

Coming from 5 different continents and 84 countries, these investors have several nationalities. Still, when buying houses in Portugal, it is worth highlighting the role of French, British, Brazilian and Chinese buyers, who constitute the largest share of investors in the area.

Among the places most sought by foreigners, who also take advantage of the attractive benefits of Gold Visas, are the cities of Lisbon and Porto and also the Algarve. Still, throughout the year, there was also the sale of properties to international investors in other regions of the country, highlighting the demand along the coast.

Plans that are currently under development like the Silver Project aim to take advantage of this growing wave of demand to boost the market. This, for example, will seek to bring 500 new homes to the capital.It should be noted that, although the best investment was in the purchase and sale of real estate, the rental market (mainly commercial, offices, hotels and retail) has also marked positive situation for real estate workers, with growth also occurring in this sector, thus boosting the increase in the rental prices in Portugal.

As far as the luxury real estate market is concerned, we highlight the growth in the business area, where the average asking price for property is around 630 thousand euros.

This elitist market was marked by an increase of 10% to 20% in luxury property in the capital's region, while there were Portuguese regions where this growth reached 30%. It should be noted that in this sector, foreign investment is around 50% of total sales.

With exceptional growth, real estate companies are making a positive balance for 2018, believing that the key elements for this will continue due to the ease of obtaining credit, national economic growth and the increase in the investors' confidence.