WHAT I SEE, AN OVERLOOK by Rui Araújo - Commercial Director

The last two years have been difficult times, with much uncertainty about the future. We have gone through (and are still going through) times that have presented us with very demanding challenges, in all areas.

The real estate sector was no exception. After an initial retraction, caused by the pandemic, the Portuguese real estate market went into growth. Between January and June 2021, 96,612 houses were sold throughout the country, a 30% increase compared to the same period in 2020 and 27% compared to 2019, a year before the pandemic, according to INE.

Prices, which also fell in 2020, rose again in 2021, with the 96,612 homes sold in the first half of the year being transacted for a total of 15.5 billion euros-a rise of 26% from the first half of 2020 and 12% from a year earlier.

In 2020, 171,800 homes were sold, down 5% from 2019. It was the first time since 2012 that the national real estate market registered a drop in sales. Despite this, and as prices increased, the amount transacted rose 2%, passing 26 billion euros.

Lisbon, where more than 32 thousand homes were sold in the first six months of 2021, continues to be the area of the country with the highest prices - although the number of properties transacted corresponds to about 33% of the total, the values fitted exceeded 7 billion euros, practically half of the national total.

The housing market showed resilience during the pandemic crisis and it is believed that the trend will continue this year.

Prices remain stable and there has not been a drop in home sales either. As the banking industry remains with home loan incentives, used home buying has also continued at its pre-pandemic pace.

Another challenge for real estate mediation concerns the end of Gold Visas in the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto and coastal areas at the end of 2021. I believe that in 2022, many opportunities will arise in the interior of the country.

Portugal has been an attractive country to invest in different types of real estate solutions, having received national investment, but especially foreign investment, for the implementation of very interesting projects, be it in local accommodation, sports, leisure activities, and in the agricultural sector.

Investing in the interior of Portugal, will allow a greater development that has had so much difficulty in fixing and attracting inhabitants and with that generate greater economic, social and cultural wealth, softening the substantial differences in comparison with the coast.

In my understanding, the limitation of gold visa investment outside the main areas such as Lisbon and Porto will allow the real estate sector to work on a range of opportunities that will arise in the interior of the country, which will lead to a substantial growth in the transactional volume of real estate in this area.

Proof of this was that, by the end of 2021, the Alentejo stood out as one of the areas with the highest growth in property transactions in Portugal.