for Algarve residential properties,
de Almeida partner Pedro
Ferreirinha. He
adds that due
to instability
in their own
There has been a learning
country,
process in recent years and there
Brazilians are
looking across
is now more legislative protection
the Atlantic to
for consumers, and a fear of
Portugal for
investing in loans collateralised
good real estate
with residential property.
investment
opportunities.
Fernando Azofra
“You get a lot
Uría Menéndez
of Brazilian
investors,” says
Ferreirinha.
but he adds that it could also be a
“The language is quite clearly an
huge opportunity for Portugal and
aspect – the Brazilians feel very
Spain’s property markets.
welcome here.
Ana Ferreira da Costa, an
Brazilian interest
associate lawyer at ABBC in
The Portuguese real estate sector
Lisbon, says that, while the
is already benefitting from the
Portuguese real estate market is
political and economic crisis
now more mature, it is still highly
in Brazil, according to Vieira
sensitive and heavily influenced
“
”
by markets in other countries.
As an example, she highlights
the growth in residential tourism
rentals, which, she says, could
become problematic as supply
diminishes and rents rise.
Stay calm
Could the aforementioned
proposed property tax put a
brake on real estate investment
in Portugal? Pedro Pinto, partner
at pbbr in Lisbon, says he does
not adhere to the “catastrophist
mood” that the proposed law has
provoked. “I would say keep calm
and carry on,” he says. Pinto’s
advice to clients is to avoid the
pressure of a heated market and
be properly advised on technical,
commercial, legal and tax issues.
“The residential rental market
still has a long way to grow and
uncertainty caused by Brexit may
well push UK investors to other
places, such as Portugal.”
Portuguese commercial real estate investment on
the rise
Pedro Ferreirinha
There has been an unprecedented rise in
both transactional and developmental
activity in Portugal’s commercial real
estate sector in the last 18 months. Indeed,
2015 was a record year, with commercial
real estate investment totalling over
€1.8bn, according to a report by BNP
Paribas. And the demand for Portuguese
real estate assets has remained high in
2016, with foreign investors and funds,
in particular, having a strong appetite.
This presents a golden opportunity for
Portugal’s leading law firms, but they
must expand to meet client demand, says
Pedro Ferreirinha, partner in charge of
the real estate and environment practice
group at Vieira de Almeida (VdA).
“The challenge in this kind of market –
where the pressure is on the demand side
– is to have the capacity and the teams in
place,” says Ferreirinha. “Clients have to
move fast on deal opportunities so you
need the manpower to respond rapidly
and efficiently to that, and that is our main
54 • IBERIAN LAWYER • September / October 2016
challenge right now.” In order to meet
this demand, VdA is recruiting and two
associates have arrived in recent months,
according to Ferreirinha.
The retail sector accounted for 55 per
cent of the total commercial real estate
investment in Portugal in 2015, but there
is also growing interest in the residential,
office, hotel and leisure sectors. This has
been spurred on by foreign take-up of
Portugal’s ‘golden visa’ and non-habitual
residents schemes, tax incentives for
urban redevelopment projects, as well as
by the fact that, with Portuguese banks
and companies looking to divest their
real estate portfolios, buyers can still find
good value. Portugal has also benefited
from the political and economic crisis in
Brazil, which has led Brazilians across
the Atlantic to look for better investment
opportunities. “You get a lot of Brazilian
investors,” says Ferreirinha. “The
language is quite clearly an aspect. The
Brazilians feel very welcome here.”
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