Month: January 2022

Évora Retail Park Sells for €6.1 Million

January 31, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The new owners, a Brazilian family office,  will add a further 2,000 square metres for new shops.

Located in Évora, the Retail Park has been sold to Brazilian investors. According to the Jornal Eco, the Évora Retail Park shopping centre has around 6,000 square metres, was opened in 2011 and has now been acquired by Europar Investimentos & Participações from M7 Real Estate for €6.1 million.

Europar Investimentos & Participações will add an additional 2,000 square metres for new shops. The asset, acquired by a family office in Brazil, is 100% occupied and has AKI, Hôma and Feira dos Sofás as its main tenants. The transaction, which was finalised in September last year, has only just come to light. However, according to the newspaper, Europar has already sold part of the property.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Bank Valuations Up to 1,285 Euros/M2

January 28, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The Autonomous Region of the Azores posted the largest increase of all the districts in Portugal.

According to data presented yesterday by the National Statistics Institute in its Survey on Residential Bank Valuations, the average value of bank valuations reached 1,285 euros per square meter in December, 13 euros more than the previous month, an increase of 1.0% m-o-m (1 272 euros/m2). The rate of change stood at 11.2%, the same as in November. The number of bank appraisals rose to around 30,000, 14.8% more than in the same period of the previous year. The median valuation stood at 1,231 euros/m2 in 2021, a 9.0% increase y-o-y.

The Autonomous Region of the Azores saw the largest monthly growth (2.6%), while the Autonomous Region of Madeira posted the largest decrease (-1.2%). Average valuations rose by 11.2% y-o-y, with the largest increase in the Algarve (12.9%) and the smallest in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (3.4%).

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Mortgage Loan Interest Rates Down to 0.801%

January 28, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The rate was 0.6 basis points lower than in the previous month.

According to data released yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics, the implicit interest rate on all mortgage contracts in Portugal stood at 0.801% in December (vs 0.807% in the previous month). For contracts signed within the last three months, the interest rate fell from 0.692% in November to 0.682% in December.

The average outstanding principal debt rose by 123 euros to 58,207 euros, in the month under review. The average instalment remained at 253 euros. The average annual interest rate for total mortgage loans in 2021 was 0.821%, 13.6 b.p. less than the previous year. The average capital rose by 2,428 euros to 56,668 euros. The average monthly instalment rose by 1.7% (4 euros) to 237 euros.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Casavo Debuts in Portugal in a €100-Million Investment

The platform that buys houses in 7 days announced its arrival in Lisbon.

January 27, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The platform that buys houses in 7 days announced its arrival in Lisbon.

The digital platform Casavo announced that it had begun operations in Lisbon, planning on investing some 100 million euros to buy homes in Portugal. The prop-tech expects to transform the experience of buying and selling homes in the country by offering faster, simpler and more transparent service, in line with the real estate sector’s rapid growth and plans to expand into new markets.

Using a technology platform, Casavo enables instant property valuations based on its patented algorithm, which analyses multiple variables and allows it to present a direct purchase offer within 48 hours. With this technology, the company only needs to visit once in person to buy the property, compared to the usual average of 20 trips in the traditional market. When an agreement is made, the company guarantees the entire transaction process and fully pays the owner in just seven days.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Patrizia Sells Mixed-Use Office Building in Lisbon for €45.25 Million

Through its real estate investment team, Principal Real Estate, Principal Global Investors has acquired a mixed-use office and retail building in Lisbon from the fund TransEuropean VI, managed by PATRIZIA, in a 45.25 million euro deal.

January 27, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The Dom Luís I building is located on Lisbon’s riverside.

Through its real estate investment team, Principal Real Estate, Principal Global Investors has acquired a mixed-use office and retail building in Lisbon from the fund TransEuropean VI, managed by PATRIZIA, in a 45.25 million euro deal.

The Dom Luis I building, located in the riverside area of Lisbon, has a total leasable area of 10,300 m2, of which 8,100 m2 is office space on seven floors, and 2,200 m2 is retail and leisure space on the ground floor. Refurbished in 2017, the asset is currently fully let to five tenants, including Farfetch, Sitel, and Fitness Hut.

RPE acted on behalf of the Principal and Cushman & Wakefield on behalf of the seller, PATRIZIA. Principal European Office Fund is a balanced, geographically diversified real estate fund with long-term value stability that invests predominantly in the European office sector.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Housing Prices Rose by 11.7% in Lisbon and 10.3% in Porto

The increase in 2021 reversed the ongoing price deceleration of the last four years.

January 27, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The increase in 2021 reversed the ongoing price deceleration of the last four years.

The data resulted from Confidencial Imobiliário’s Residential Price Index. According to the SIR-Sistema de Informação Residencial, the sale prices of homes ended the year having risen by 11.7% in Lisbon and 10.3% in Porto.

Prices had not risen so much in Lisbon since the end of 2018 when the annual variation reached 16.0%. The increase recorded in the year under review reverses the deceleration trend of the last four years, culminating in a yearly rise of only 3.0% in 2020. In 2021, the first quarter continued the trend, with the lastest lockdown lowering the quarterly change in prices to -0.3%. The market recovered from that period onwards, reaching a quarterly rise of 4.1% in the last three months of 2021.

In 2021, the average sales price of a home in Lisbon was €3,973/m2, a record high for the market. Sales also grew significantly, with transactions projected to reach around 15,750 dwellings in Lisbon in 2021. This figure is more than 20% above the level in 2020 and is a high for the last decade. The last time that kind of increase was recorded was during the pre-financial crisis period, between 2007 and 2008.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

New Housing Loans Totalled €13.773 Million in Year to November

January 26, 2022 – Ana Custódio

New homes licensed for construction in Portugal increased by 11.8%.

According to a new report by AICCOPN (Association of Civil Construction and Public Works Industries), the Statistical Housing Synthesis, cement consumption in Portugal totalled 3.507 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

Residential licensing saw a 9.5% increase y-o-y in the number of new construction or rehabilitation works approved by the country’s municipalities in the first 11 months of 2021. The number of new-build homes rose by 11.8% to 25,621.

AICCOPN also calculated that financial institutions granted a total of 13.773 billion euros in mortgages in the first eleven months of 2021, an increase of 35.2%, compared to €10.186 billion a year ago. In November, financial institutions’ stock of mortgage loans grew by 1.9% y-o-y to 96.581 billion euros.

The average residential bank valuation within the mortgage application process rose by 11.2% in the face of increases of 11.9% for flats and 8.1% for houses.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Urban Rehabilitation Increased by 7.1% in December

The level of activity in urban rehabilitation remained positive in December 2021.

January 24, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The level of activity in urban rehabilitation remained positive in December 2021.

According to AICCOPN’s Urban Rehabilitation Barometer today, activity in the urban rehabilitation sector remained positive in December 2021.

Based on data collected in a monthly survey conducted by AICCOPN, executives in the sector foresee a slowdown in the index’s growth rate, with the respective index indicating a year-on-year increase of 7.1%. Although lower than the 16.5% reported in November, the figure remained positive.

The Backlog Index, which measures executives’ views on the evolution of work in hand, rose by 18.3% year-on-year, similar to that of the previous month.

Finally, contracted production, an indicator that aims to estimate the time ensured for working at a normal rate of production, reached ten months in December, an increase on the 8.8 months reported in November.

Translation: Richard D K Turner

Porto to Gain Three New University Student Residences

January 24, 2022 – Ana Custódio

The Porto City Council and the University of Porto will move ahead with three new university residences. The new buildings will provide the city with another 270 beds for students.

Already scheduled for inauguration before the next academic year, the first student residence will be in Porto’s historic centre. The residence will be in renovated facilities at the former Centro Social da Sé, on Rua da Bainharia. The 20-bed facility was donated and renovated by the City Hall.

This agreement is a part of a pilot project. The municipality, the Academic Federation of Porto and the University of Porto will share the management of student residences.

One will be in Morro da Sé, in the city’s historic centre, with a planned construction area of 6,750 m2 and an estimated investment of around 7 million euros. The third, in Monte Pedral, Constituição, has a planned construction area of approximately 5,000 square metres and is forecast to cost between 6 and 6.5 million euros. According to the statement, these structures will accommodate around two hundred students in areas of the city with easy access and several public transport options.

Early last week, the applications were subject to analysis at a meeting with the mayor, Rui Moreira, and the rector of the University of Porto, António Sousa Pereira. The councillor responsible for education, Catarina Araújo, the councillor for urbanism, Pedro Baganha, and the chief of staff, Vasco Ribeiro, also took part. The University of Porto was also represented by its vice-rector, José Castro Lopes, and by the pro-rector, Pedro Alves Costa.

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Translation: Richard D K Turner

Housing Prices Up in Lisbon Over the Last 5 Years

The price of new housing in the capital reached €6,718 per square metre in Q3 2021. Rental prices fell to 14.1 euros per square metre after the start of the pandemic.

January 24, 2022 – Ana Custódio

Lisbon saw significant growth from 2016 up to the third quarter of 2021.

In recent years, housing prices have been increasing throughout Portugal, both for new builds, existing housing, and even rentals. The country’s capital is no exception. Lisbon experienced significant growth from 2016 until the third quarter of 2021, according to data published by the real estate platform Brainsre.

During the first quarter of 2016, the price of new housing reached €4,151 per square metre, a relatively stable figure compared to the second quarter of 2018. However, price growth accelerated from that period onwards, reaching €6,062 per square metre in the fourth quarter of that same year. Average prices hit 6,718 euros per square metre in the third quarter of 2021.

In turn, second-hand housing also saw significant growth, though lower than new housing. At the beginning of 2016, the price of existing housing stood at €2,896 per square metre, while in the third quarter of 2021, it had reached €5,457 per square metre, almost doubling over the last five years.

Rental prices in the residential sector have also increased throughout the period under review, though they retreated after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. The drop was likely due to the successive lockdowns, a reduction in travel and the absence of tourism, which forced a significant percentage of local accommodation units back on the long-term rental market. At the beginning of 2016, rentals had an average cost of €11/m2, rising to €16 in the second quarter of 2019, a figure that remained stable until the first quarter of 2020.  Prices began to drop during the second quarter of 2020, falling to €14.1 per square metre in the third quarter of 2021.

According to data from the real estate platform Brainsre, of the 24 parishes that make up Lisbon, the parish of Santo António reported the highest average prices in the city in the third quarter of 2021, at 7,164 euros per square metre. It was followed by the parishes of Misericórdia, Alcântara, Belém and Santa Maria Maior. In the middle of the table is the parish of Arroios, with an average value of 5,005 euros per square metre. Still in the city of Lisbon, but at the bottom of the ranking, are the parishes of Beato and Santa Clara, with average values of 3,627 euros per square meter and 2,821 euros per square meter, respectively.

Brainsre is a proptech that allows for the real estate portfolio analysis, providing its clients with the ability to manage and contrast them with market data. It is an indispensable platform for investors, real estate agents, servicers, banks, property consultants and anyone operating in the property market.

Translation: Richard D K Turner