Foreign buyers are believed to have contributed towards recovery of housing markets
in Spain, with government initiatives like the
Golden Visa scheme boosting the market.
Foreign buyers drive Portugal’s
property market
Overseas buyers conducted one in five house
transactions in Portugal last year, with the
coastal town of Cascais and seaside villas in
the south of particular interest. A combination
of pleasant climate, tax incentives and low
property prices are seen as significant lures for
French, Chinese and British buyers.
According to the Portuguese Real Estate
Agents Association, Britons purchased nearly
23,000 homes in Portugal during 2014, with
French and Chinese buyers coming next.
The upswing in purchases was not without its
troubles, however. It emerged last year that
illegal activity was suspected in the issuing
of visas to wealthy foreigners, resulting in
the resignation of a cabinet minister and
the arrest of 11 officials. While the scandal
definitely affected the real estate market, it
still grew by between 9% and 15%, according
to the country’s real estate agents association.
Portugal has now decided to tighten rules on
the country’s Golden Visa programme, under
which residency permits are granted to property buyers from outside the country.
House prices rise in Portugal for
first time in five years
An improved economy helped Portugal
experience its first house price increase since
the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
launched its national price survey in 2010.
It is the first time the country’s economy
expanded since 2010, although only slightly,
with average annualised GDP growth of 0.9%
After a 3-year period in which GDP contracted
by nearly 6%, a recovery does now appear to
be emerging.
Unemployment was down by almost 2% in
the previous year and now stands at 13.4%,
compared to its peak of 17.7% in early 2013.
Looking ahead, prices are expected to
continue to rise over the next three months
but RICS explains that a sustained run of positive data will be needed before it is in a position to talk about a genuine recovery.
At the regional level, property prices are
now rising in both Lisbon and the Algarve,
but remain more or less stable in the
Porto market.
Foreign sales are pushing Spain’s