Investment in commercial income property in 2024 grew by around 44% compared to 2023, totalling more than 2.3 billion euros. This is revealed in the balance sheet released by CBRE.
The consultancy says that investment is mainly distributed among the regions of Lisbon, which captured 50 per cent of the amount, Porto with 4 per cent and the Algarve which, due to the enormous dynamism of the hotel sector, captured 8 per cent of the total amount invested. In the hotel sector, CBRE also says that 42 per cent of the capital invested is of foreign origin.
The breakdown by sector places retail as the star sector, with 50 per cent of the investment volume and hotels with 23 per cent, followed by the office sector with 14 per cent, student residences which accounted for 8 per cent and the industrial and logistics sectors at the bottom of the table with 4 per cent. Yields have remained generally stable, however, some sectors, such as High Street Retail, Shopping Centres and Student Residences, are already showing signs of compression.
During 2024, the consultancy recorded a total of 83 transactions, 17 per cent down on the previous year. Among the biggest transactions of the year, CBRE was involved in the sale of the Conrad Hotel Algarve by ECS to Quinta do Lago. The consultancy also said that, taking into account the transactions currently in the due diligence phase and the pipeline expected for the rest of the year, 2025 could remain in line with 2024's investment volume or even show some growth, albeit slight.
The consultancy also noted that it closed the year with a 50 per cent share of the volume transacted with the intervention of consultants (excluding direct buyer/seller sales).
‘2024 was indeed a year of recovery and an upturn in confidence compared to the previous year. With the fall in inflation and the consequent drop in interest rates, there was once again an interesting dynamism in transactions which, combined with the fundamentals that our country has to offer, once again gave pace to the market and made investors once again take seriously the opportunities that Portugal has to offer in the property market. Once again, with the sale of shopping centres and renowned hotels, these sectors stood out in their performance, but we anticipate that demand for alternative products such as student residences, healthcare and senior living will continue to increase,’ comments Francisco Horta e Costa, Managing Director at CBRE Portugal.
