Portuguese real estate is expected to surpass pre-pandemic values this year

Cushman & Wakefield believes that Portugal's good reputation in managing the pandemic and the abundance of liquidity in the market will mean that investment levels will surpass those of 2019.

Investment in income property in Portugal is expected to exceed pre-pandemic values in 2022, according to an estimate from property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield released this Monday. However, compared to 2020, investment retreated by 30% in 2021, with different performances between segments.

The basis of this conviction is the good reputation achieved by Portugal in managing the covid-19 pandemic and the abundance of liquidity in the market will cause investment levels to supplant those of 2019.

If last year total investment in commercial, office, industrial, logistics and hotel real estate was around 2 billion euros, for the year 2022, which is just beginning, deals worth over 2.1 billion euros are already in the pipeline "at various stages of negotiation," according to Eric van Leuven, managing director of the consultancy in Portugal, quoted in a statement.

One of the big deals is the hotel portfolio of ECS Capital fund, sold to Davidson Kempner fund, for around 600 million euros and should be completed in the first half of 2022. To this value "close to 600 million euros may be added in transactions currently suspended, but with the possibility of conclusion by the end of the year," the managing director adds.

The balance for 2021, depending on the different segments, is disparate: the office sector saw occupancy increase 17% compared to 2020 in Greater Lisbon and fall 10% in Greater Porto. In the industrial and logistics market, take-up volumes reached an all-time annual high in the first three quarters of 2021, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Source Article in Jornal expresso of 3 January 2022