Outlook improving slightly for Portuguese property
Friday, 28 January 2011 8:07 AM
New research has revealed a slight improvement in some areas of the Portuguese property market, but the overall outlook for overseas buyers remains largely negative.
According to the latest Portuguese Housing Market Survey, conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a minor improvement in price balance was seen last month, but other measures saw further decline.
Property in Portugal saw its Activity Index, based on the number of enquiries, instructions and sales taking place in December 2010, deteriorate by five per cent, from -27 to -32.
Meanwhile, the Confidence Index improved slightly, from -44 to -35, with positive increases in sales and price expectations from both agents and developers.
Ricardo Guimaraes, spokesman for Confidencial Imobiliario (CI), which co-authored the report, commented: "Agents are concerned about the impact of credit constraints on
activity and prices.
"They are reporting that banks are lowering loan-to-value limits and lowering valuations, causing many potential buyers to cancel deals. At the same time, new mortgage rates are rising, which is further weighing down on demand and prices," he explained.
Josh Miller, RICS' senior economist, added: "The December RICS/CI data shows a relative improvement in the pricing picture, particularly in the eyes of developers … [but] activity is still falling and confidence is still weak."
Want to be the first to know when we break a story? Follow @AboutProperty on Twitter.
-
Tags:
- buy to let ,
- buying ,
- europe ,
- finance ,
- holiday homes ,
- investment ,
- portugal ,
- selling




