According to a report by Confidencial Imobiliário, in 2021, 83 foreign nationalities purchased housing in the Lisbon ARU. The data covers housing transactions carried out by individuals in the Lisbon ARU.

The amount invested in 2021 is more than 20 percent above the best year of foreign investment, which had been 2019, with €762 million transacted. In terms of number of properties, the evolution of 2021 compared to the best year was 6 percent, also compared to 2019, when foreigners acquired 1,673 residential properties.

Higher average spend

On average, foreigners invested €52,000 per transaction in 2021, this value is 48 percent above the €353,700 invested, on average per transaction, by the Portuguese in the same period.

The year's result was driven by the behaviour of the second semester, which can be explained “not only by the lack of definition, but also, probably, due to the demand related to golden visas, whose rules would change at the beginning of the current year, with strong restrictions on the eligibility of property acquisition in Lisbon”, states Ricardo Guimarães, director of Confidencial Imobiliário.

Which nationalities are investing?

The North Americans were the most dynamic foreigners, totalling €134 million in residential purchases at the Lisbon ARU (15 percent share of the amount of foreign investment), followed by the French, with €126.1 million transacted (14 percent share), and by the Chinese, with €119.7 million invested (13 percent share). In 4th position are the British, with €91.4 million traded (share of around 10 percent), with the top 5 still comprising the Brazilians, who totalled an investment of around €67.7 million (share of 7 percent).

In terms of destinations, Santo António continues to be the main target for foreign capital, raising €176.6 million in 2021. Arroios was the second most sought after parish by non-residents, totalling €142.7 million in housing purchases, followed by «Estrela, where international investment totaled €106.9 million.

Market share

Foreigners kept their market share stable, accounting for 38 percent of the total amount invested in housing in the Lisbon ARU 2021, as investment of Portuguese origin also evolved positively compared to pre-Covid. In 2021, the Portuguese invested €1,535 million in the acquisition of 4,354 properties in Lisbon's ARU. This amount reflects an increase of 10 percent compared to 2019, while the number of properties is similar to that recorded in 2019.

In total, between foreigners and Portuguese, around 6,100 residential properties were acquired in the Lisbon ARU, representing in an investment of €2.46 billion. Overall, the amount invested in housing at the Lisbon ARU increased by 14 percent compared to 2019.