Nelson Quintas Invests €16.5 Million in Porto

28 July 2020 – The Nelson Quintas group is building two structures on Rua Manuel Pinto de Azevedo, an office building and a parking tower. The firm also recently opened the São Bento Residences, the controversial tourist project located next to Porto’s iconic railway station, in a total investment of 16.5 million euros.

The two new buildings will host offices, shops and parking for 175 vehicles, in an investment of 12.5 million euros. It will be located on Rua Manuel Pinto de Azevedo, across from Avenida Antunes Guimarães. Architects have designed a glazed office building, which will have a gross leasable area of 2,600 square meters.

On the other side of the city, the €4-million São Bento Residences was built on Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, a few meters away from Avenida dos Aliados, the Sé Cathedral and the Luís I bridge. Located right next to the São Bento Railway Station, at the intersection between Rua do Loureiro and Avenida D. Afonso Henriques, the project sought to create “a conceptual connection between the 18th and 21st centuries.” Designed by Nuno Grande, the São Bento Residences is composed of 16 short-term rental flats, including studios and one-bedroom units. The restaurant The Good Burger, a hamburger chain owned by the Spanish group Restalia, operates on the ground floor.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios – Rui Neves

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Hotel Melia Lisboa to Open in 2022

28 July 2020 – Construction recently began on the Melia Lisboa hotel, the Spanish company’s first five-star unit in Portugal. The 240-room hotel, which is located at the intersection of Avenida António Augusto de Aguiar and Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, near the Marquês de Pombal, in Lisbon, should be completed in the second half of 2022.

The property is owned by the Discovery Portugal Real Estate Fund, which was advised by Explorer Investments. Meliã will manage the hotel itself.

In additions to the rooms, the Melia Lisboa will have a 24-hour restaurant, a penthouse bar and lounge area with panoramic views of the city, a 550-person capacity convention and congress centre, a health club and a wellness centre. In all, the new facility will have 22,220 m² of gross construction area on 14 above-ground floors, along with six underground levels.

Original Story: Idealista – Elisabete Soares

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

The Panorâmico Poente Goes on Sale in Porto

28 July 2020 – Work on Porto’s latest residential development, the Panorâmico Poente, in Campo Alegre, is heading towards completion next month. The project consists of 11 flats, each of which will have direct access from the street, via the Via Panorâmica Edgar Cardoso, and a parking area. The 4-flour building has five four-bedroom, five three-bedroom, all of which are duplexes, and one one-bedroom flat. The impressive flats also offer sweeping views of the Douro river.

The developer, Imolimit, has mandated the firms Engel & Völkers and Predibisa Real Estate to market the properties, 50% of which have already been sold for an average price per square meter below €4.500. At that level, the 64-m2 one-bedroom flat would sell for 275,000 euros, while the 230-m2 four-bedroom duplex would go for 1,175,000 euros.

Original Story: Idealista – Elisabete Soares

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

AUMs at Portugal’s Real Estate Funds Fall Slightly

28 July 2020 – Portuguese Real Estate Investment Funds (FII), Special Real Estate Investment Funds (FEII) and Property Management Funds (FUNGEPI) had €10.435 billion in assets under management as of last month, a fall of 0.08% m-o-m.

According to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), the amount invested in FIIs remained practically unchanged at €7.632 billion, while AUM in FEIIs fell 0.23% to 2.435 billion euros and by 0.2% in FUNGEPIs.

Original Story: Idealista

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Sonae Builds Eco-Friendly Office Building in Maia

27 July 2020 – Sonae has invested about 11 million euros in building an eco-friendly office at its technology campus in Maia. The Sonae Tech Hub will host the technology areas of the company’s various subsidiaries. The new office building has a gross area of more than 6,900 square metres, with four aboveground floors and two underground floors for parking. The project has been awarded the Platinum LEED – Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design certification by the United States Green Building Council, one of the world’s most recognized certification bodies for sustainable real estate projects. The new building is also considered one of the 100 most sustainable buildings in the world.

Original Story: Idealista

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Mortgage Loan Interest Rate Reaches an Average of 0.932%

27 July 2020 – The implicit interest rate on mortgage loans rose to 0.932% in June, up from 0.903% in February, according to data published by Portugal’s National Statistics Institute.

Interest rates on mortgage loans to acquire a home, which makes up the bulk of housing loans, 0.946% (+2.8 b.p m-o-m). For contracts signed in the last three months, the interest rate reached 0.887%.

Average mortgage loans rose by 116 euros to 54,126 euros, while average monthly payments increased by one euro to 228 euros.

Original Story: Jornal Económico – Inês Pinto Miguel

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Tourism Revenues Down by 47% in May

22 July 2020 – Data for the first five months of 2020 point to a fall of 47% fall in tourism receipts compared to the same period during the year before. May was the worst month since the beginning of the year due to the pandemic and its associated lockdown.

The Bank of Portugal added that the loss of tourism revenue has already been included in its forecast GDP figures. GDP is set to fall by 6.7%, though the worst-case scenario points to a potential drop of 9.5%.

Rita Marques, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Tourism, referred to “an abrupt reduction [in revenue] of between 50% and 60% this year.” While air traffic is expected to increase by 50% in August, the rebound is not likely to cover the shortfall from earlier in the year. Current forecasts point to losses of 50% in August and 70% in September. Tourism is the most significant economic export activity in Portugal, accounting for 52.3% of service exports and 19.7% of total exports in 2019.

Original Story: Jornal Económico – João Tereso Casimiro

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Rents Post Largest Fall in Ten Years

22 July 2020 – Housing rental costs in Lisbon, during the second quarter of this year, suffered the most significant drop in ten years. Between April and June, rents in the capital fell 6.9% q-o-q and by 8.7% y-o-y, according to Confidencial Imobiliário’s Residential Rents Index (IRR).

Nationally, rents also fell during the second quarter, dropping by 2.8%, again, the most substantial contraction of the last ten years. Even so, rents in mainland Portugal remain 2.4% above the same period in 2019.

Rents in Porto, however, were stable, up by 0.4% q-o-q. Year-on-year, rents rose by 6.5%.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios – Ana Batalha Oliveira

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Acciona to Take Over Construction of the Miraflores Residences

22 July 2020 – The Spanish real estate developer Gestilar has hired Acciona, also of Spain, to build its new residential development in Miraflores, about 10 kilometres from Lisbon. Gestilar has stated that it will invest around 80 million euros in total. The first phase of construction will include 111 two-to-four-bedroom flats. The construction project has been budgeted at 26 million euros, with delivery set for mid-2022.

The Miraflores development will be located in a predominantly urban area composed of luxury residential buildings, services, shops and some offices. The architectural studio Saraiva + Associados designed the 13-floor project, which will include shops, a swimming pool, a natural solarium and a gymnasium overlooking the Tagus river.

Original Story: Idealista

Photo: Gestilar

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Real Estate Market Growth Moderated in 2019

21 July 2020 – According to a report by Portugal’s statistics agency, the INE, the number of real estate transactions rose to a new high in 2019 for the third year in a row. At the same time, total housing transactions reached €25.6 billion last year, a growth of 6.3%, down from an increase of 24.4% in 2018. The real estate market grew by 1.6% in 2019, compared to a growth of 16.6% in 2019. The figure represents the smallest increase since 2013.

INE also noted that the number of real estate transactions registered a new high for the third consecutive year, reaching 181,478 homes in 2019. The value of housing transactions totalled 25.6 billion euros in 2019, an increase of 6.3%, down from 24.4% in 2018.

The average price of housing in Portugal grew by 8.5% last year, compared to 2018, reaching 1,081 euros/square meter. Lisbon still has the highest average housing price, at €3,247/square meter.

Original Story: Jornal Económico – José Varela Rodrigues

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner