Real estate sees a brake on rising prices, but doesn´t feel a break on sales

With volatile stock markets and an extended interest rate policy at historically low levels, it may allow a faster recovery in the real estate sector than in others. This is the perception of many professionals in the sector, so the idea is that prices will stabilise but not fall.

A state of emergency has been decreed in Portugal for 3 weeks now, with the measures to contain the pressure on the property market already weighing on companies. Postponing investment decisions, suspending real estate operations and transactions and falling demand are some of the trends already felt by us CASAIBERIA and our real estate professional colleagues. But, unlike many other sectors, this sector remains optimistic about the future of the sector. With low interest rates and a volatility in the stock markets, which is always repeated historically when there are international crises, companies and real estate entrepreneurs as well as us, CASAIBERIA, believe in maintaining the interest of investors, which we believe will lead to a rapid recovery and stabilization of prices in the real estate market in Portugal.

But of course it is very difficult to predict the evolution of the next months and of the market, not least because the most recent official data, from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), refer to the third quarter of 2019. At that time, the median price of houses sold in Portugal was 1,054 euros per square meter, a new historical maximum.

We are realistic and know that real estate performance in 2020 will not be the same as in 2019. However, 2019 was a record year and if we can achieve the figures of 2018 or even 2017 we are still at a high level. Just remember the following figures, in commercial real estate alone, investment exceeded 3,550 million euros, to which were added 1,500 million in land and rehabilitation in 2019. Someone will believe it will continue because the investment is always made in the long term, and with the stock markets shaking, only concrete gold is left as an alternative. That is why and because of the information that CASAIBERIA obtains every day from its partners and international business friends, we are convinced that we will overcome this chalice, and that it will make us even better and stronger at the service of our customers.

However, we have had a lot of contact with investors showing that their interest has not slowed down, which, together with other factors, will allow a quick recovery. We believe as CASAIBERIA that the real estate market will recover within one Year after the pandemic. Investors will return to the market in force, because of the factors already indicated, low interest rates, volatile stock market and a lot of capital in the market with no alternative in the application of the same. So let us continue on the path for the good of our clients and the CASAIBERIA Team.