Recovery Expected One Year After End of Lockdown

15 April 2020 Experts following the Portuguese residential real estate market are confident that property prices will return to pre-crisis levels in just over a year after the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. The volume of sales is expected to rebound in around twelve months. At the moment, however, the market is in freefall.

The report by Confidencial Imobiliário and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is based on their monthly survey, the Portuguese Housing Market Survey (PHMS). In the short term, the report, anticipating that social distancing measures will continue in place in the coming months, states that sales expectations “are now firmly in negative territory, with a net balance of -71% of respondents expecting transaction levels to fall.”

Prices already moderated by 18% in March, according to the report, and expectations are for a decline over the next three to 12 months. Prices in Portugal next year are expected to fall by just over 7%. Additionally, the rental market posted the first drop since 2014, a decline of 37%. Tenants believe that rents will continue to decrease in the short-term.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios – Ana Batalha Oliveira

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner