According to the property professionals questioned for the April 2015 RICS/Ci Portuguese Housing Market Survey (PHMS), home values in Portugal are likely to rise around 2% in the next year.
The ever-popular Algarve is set to post the strongest gains (around 3%), followed by the capital, Lisbon (2.5%), while more modest forecasts were predicted for the northern city of Porto (about 1%).
The report goes on to say that over the next five years, prices are expected to rise even more, by an average of 4.5% a year. Values and confidence in the sales markets in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve are rising and rents are also now expected to increase.
Further revelations from the PHMS include an increase in new buyer enquiries in April, extending a run of consecutive demand growth dating back to August 2013. Agreed sales rose for the 14th month in a row.
Ricardo Guimarães, director of Ci, says: “Recent statistics show new mortgage loans increased 20% during the second half of 2014. This is naturally being felt by agents. Their comments suggest this is the main factor changing the market as banks are gradually starting to lend to the sector again.”
RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, welcomes the new data but urges caution: “Encouragement should be taken from recently released GDP figures, confirming the economic recover y remains very much on track. Nonetheless, continued improvement in this regard will be required to support the recover y in the housing market, which remains in its infancy.”
