The Portugal Golden Residence Permit, also known as the Portugal Golden Visa, is designed for non-EU citizens who wish to conduct investment activities and reside in Portugal. It came into effect on October 8, 2012. So, what are property prices in Portugal?
On June 30, 2015, the Diário da República of Portugal officially published the Portugal Golden Residence investment immigration program. The latest legal amendments to the new Portuguese immigration policy were officially implemented on July 1, 2015. Since the inception of the policy, we have observed that real estate accounts for 90% of the total investment in Portugal. Although many applicants chose to apply to other EU countries such as Greece and Spain in 2017 due to the immigration office's inability to process the high volume of cases, resulting in slower processing speeds, this did not affect the upward trend in the number of applicants.
With the recovery of the European economy, in addition to an increase in foreign investment, the investment confidence of local residents has also increased, leading to a recovery in property prices. Lisbon, Porto, and Faro are the three major cities in Portugal. Over the last five years, real estate prices in Portugal have continued to rise. Lisbon has seen the most significant increase in price per square meter; between 2014 and 2017, real estate prices in the city surged, with a year-on-year increase of approximately 23%. In January 2017, the average value per square meter was 3,133 euros, an increase of 10% compared to the same month in the previous year. In 2018, due to a lack of new government construction plans, there was a severe imbalance between supply and demand in the Portuguese real estate market, causing prices to continue to rise. From 2012 to January 2018, Portuguese property prices experienced a linear and significant increase between 2012 and 2016, with a slight pullback in 2017-2018, followed by a steady, moderate growth in the second half of 2018. It remains a good time to invest in property.