English 
Français THE PROPERTY MARKET IN PORTUGAL
Why invest in Portugal?
Because it is a country in the Eurozone, with economic growth and foreign investment on the rise
Key economic points
- IMF debt repaid ahead of schedule
- Government reforms initiated and implemented
- Economic growth accelerated in the third quarter of 2016 (GDP +0.8%)
- China’s Fosun becomes the largest shareholder in BC Millennium bank (17%, with a target of increasing this to 30%)
- France has a strong and diversified economic presence in Portugal, with 750 companies employing over 50,000 people and generating annual turnover of nearly €10 billion
- BNP is to create a human resources hub in Portugal for its CIB activities in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region
- Leroy Merlin plans to open eight new stores in Portugal by 2020
- Vinci has acquired Portugal’s airports (ANA)
- Altice (parent company of SFR) has acquired Portugal Telecom with the aim of making Portugal its global innovation centre, with investments made in Aveiro
- Cofidis has acquired Banif Mais for €400 million
- Faurecia is set to strengthen its presence in Portugal by creating 400 jobs in Bragança by 2017
- Alain Afflelou has acquired a 25% stake in Optivisao
- Altran is set to create 200 new jobs
- Intermarché, which already employs over 10,000 Portuguese people, will open 10 new stores in 2016 and plans to open 50 by 2020
Etc...
No residence permit required
Cost of living much lower than in Switzerland, France or many other European countries
73 properties purchased every day by foreigners
Residential property prices: between €3,000 and over €5,000 per square metre
Transfer tax: maximum 8%
Annual property tax: 0.3–0.5% of the property’s value
Statutes to encourage foreign investment:
RNH: no tax for private-sector pensioners for 10 years, no inheritance tax or wealth tax
Golden Visa: ‘Schengen’ residence permit in exchange for a property investment of €500,000
Property prices have fallen by 20 to 30% since 2008
In Porto: from €1,200 to €1,700 per square metre.
Porto is a city of 400,000 inhabitants (with an urban area of 1.4 million inhabitants) that welcomes 4 million tourists a year.
Booming tourism in Lisbon and Porto
Aware that prices are set to rise, an increasing number of investors are turning their attention to Portugal
- 7,500 French and over 700 Swiss people settled in Portugal in 2014. Three times as many in 2015
- Thanks to the European Central Bank, banks are now able to grant mortgages to both domestic and international buyers
- In the Algarve, prices have risen by 8% in a year and by 10–20% in a year in Lisbon
- 20% of properties in Portugal are sold to foreigners
- In 2014, one in four homes was sold to foreigners, amounting to 23,000 houses and flats, according to figures from the Portuguese Association of Estate Agents.
- By the end of June 2014, 2,420 ‘Golden Visas’ had been granted to non-European citizens, including 1,947 to Chinese nationals, followed by Brazilians and Russians.
This represents a total investment of €1.46 billion, according to figures from the Portuguese authorities.
