The study was published on 8 December, and notes that, “between 2007 and 2008, real estate process dropped, signifying the beginning of the recession. Now the IMF property price index shows that we have almost returned to pre-crisis prices. Is it now time to concern ourselves once more with the global fall in house prices?” the report questions.
Among IMF concerns, both the increase in the giving of credit in Portugal, as well as the lack of housing supply are included, with the organisation stressing that this rise in process does not correspond to an increase in income for Portuguese families. However, IMF recognises that it is not yet ‘time to panic’, since the evolution of process is not synchronised in all countries and cities, unlike the years before 2008, and nowadays there are in place regulations which foresee this.
Portugal is placed in the group of 17 “bust and boom” markets, which have seen a significant rise in prices since 2013 after a marked fall. Now Spain, among those countries which have seen a 7% growth in prices, is included in the “gloom” group, which included 18 economies where house process fell significantly during the crisis, and stayed low.