The estimate is from the Research Department at CBRE, which made a balance of the last semester and projected the market’s behaviour for the rest of the year.
Until June, around 1.100 million euro were invested, with the hotel segment representing the largest share of the investment for the first time at 39%. The spotlight goes to the sale of three hotels in Lisbon from Minor to Invesco. Retail represented 29% of the total amount invested in real estate and the offices segment 23%.
Francisco Horta e Costa, CBRE’s general manager remarks that «the level of investment in 2018 was around 3.500 million euro, making it unlikely for 2019 to reach that record. However, CBRE’s projections are higher today than they were at the beginning of the year, pointing to a volume of investment between 2.500 and 3.000 million euro», 500 million euro more than what was estimated in January. «If these estimates are confirmed, it will the second highest year in terms of real estate investment in Portugal, and the fourth year in which the amount surpasses 2.000 million euro», predicted Francisco Horta e Costa.
Cristina Arouca, Research Director at CBRE, points as the main reasons for the investment acceleration during the second semester of 2019 «the continued high liquidity from investors and the guarantee that the interest rates will remain unchanged until the end of the year, as announced by the European Central Bank».
Also, the foundations of the Portuguese real estate market remain robust, since «demand remains very active and the scarcity of available spaces for rent persists, which has led to a strong increase in rents and, consequently, to the valuation of the real estate assets. The sector’s attractiveness is also reflected on the number of new investors, especially international investors, who approach CBRE every day», he added.
CBRE highlights, as the main market trends for the coming months and even for the next 2 years, the gap between offer and demand. Lisbon and Porto street commerce will keep expanding, the housing market should also maintain a huge gap between offer and demand, keeping the price increase trend, although at a slower pace.