The growing increase in the price per square meter of houses in large urban centers and their historic areas, is conditioning demand and displacing real estate activity and the construction of properties to the periphery of Lisbon and Porto.
The growing increase in the price per square meter of houses in large urban centers and their historic areas, is conditioning demand and displacing real estate activity and the construction of properties to the periphery of Lisbon and Porto.
The appreciation of homes located in the center of these cities is the result of the growth of tourism, the consequent increase in the activity of local leasing and the demand by foreigners for houses to buy, thus benefiting from the Golden Visa programs or the Tax Regime for Non-Habitual Residents .
This move to the outskirts of Lisbon is not unrelated to the growing difficulties of car parking and associated costs.
Construction discussed at the "Observatory: Real Estate in Portugal"
At this conference organized by Jornal de Negócios, Luís Lima, the president of APEMI - Association of Professionals and Real Estate Companies of Portugal, stated that:
I can say that last week a transaction was made in the center of Porto (...) at the highest price per square meter in Portugal. What can not be: it is not good for those who sold, nor for those who bought, because this will have repercussions on the transactions next door, which is dangerous.
Now, new construction is needed in some areas, because rehabilitation is no longer enough, even to try to balance prices.
This speaker considered that the prices of the properties practiced in the periphery of Lisbon and Porto "start to be desirable" and defended the growth of the construction of new properties for these peripheral areas, with more accessible prices, as one of the solutions to this problem.
Another speaker, Ricardo Sousa CEO of Century 21 Iberia, stated that:
The city of Lisbon is becoming unsuitable for what is the Portuguese disposable income. We don't want to touch what works and is good for the city and the country, which is tourism and local accommodation
On the other hand Manuel Puerta da Costa, executive director of BPI Gestão de Ativos said that:
One of the reasons that contributes to the fact that there are more home transactions is related to the fact that banks are more available to lend. No home loans will be made on the scale of last year, but banks are more “friends” with consumers.
In other words, the current favorable conditions for the growth of the real estate market, predict that the bet on the outskirts of large cities will be the next step for real estate investors, benefiting from lower prices and a greater appreciation of their investment.