“I can say that our phones haven't stopped ringing yet. We have clients here with land to which we had given a certain value and they now want to put double [the price] on them”, Cristina Peres, from Imobiliária ERA Samora Correia, in the municipality of Benavente, in the district from Santarém.

“The land will be highly sought after for the construction of new homes, but also for all the services that are needed near a large airport. This is going to be brutal here for this area. It was a peaceful area, it will no longer be,” she added.

According to Cristina Peres, an apartment in Samora Correia currently costs around €200,000 and a house more than €400,000, but prices “are expected to rise further, because Samora Correia is 20 minutes from Lisbon and will be 10 minutes from future airport”.

The Government announced on Tuesday the construction of new infrastructure - to replace Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon - at the Air Force Shooting Field, also known as Alcochete Shooting Field (due to the proximity of this urban center) and which is mainly located in the parish of Samora Correia, with a small part in the parish of Canha, in the municipality of Montijo (district of Setúbal).

In the municipalities of Montijo and Alcochete, as in the district of Setúbal, land, and houses are already at very high prices for the majority of citizens, but sector operators believe that there will be an increase in demand in the near future.

“What effectively boosts the construction and purchase and sale of properties in this region is its location in relation to Setúbal and Lisbon. The airport has always been a parallel issue, especially because it is not so welcome for some people, who think it could be more harmful than bringing something positive”, said Cláudio Oliveira, from Imobiliária Novo Impacto.


International buyers

“Of course, for builders and land owners the expectation is that demand will increase even further, but the reality is that in recent years supply has been lower than demand”, he said, ensuring that the average Portuguese already has difficulty in purchasing a home and that the “main buyer of homes in the region is already the international market”.

In the municipality of Alcochete, where a new apartment or brand new house can cost tens of thousands of euros more compared to Montijo or Samora Correia, Ana Nascimento, from Imobiliária Century21 Nações, believes that properties are already very expensive and that the announcement of the new airport will not have a very significant impact on prices.

“A new T2, brand new, in Alcochete, you cannot buy for less than 450,000 euros. A townhouse can cost around 550,000 euros, detached houses around 1.2 million euros,” she said.

Despite the high prices, Ana Nascimento said that on Wednesday, one day after the announcement of the new airport, “some large construction companies were already looking for land in the region, to see what they could build”.


Lots of interest

The vice-president of the Association of Real Estate Agents of Portugal (ASMIP), Francisco Bacelar, has no doubt that the construction of the new airport and the high-speed train “will bring a lot of interest, in the surrounding area and on the access roads, that can help boost real estate.”

“It will be a new real estate centre, like Expo98 was 20 years ago. Around the airport there will be a new real estate center, a new city that is expected for the coming decades”, he added, warning that “obstacles may arise that delay the deadline set by the Government for the construction of the new airport”.

According to the Government, led by social democrat Luís Montenegro, the future infrastructure, which will be called Luís de Camões Airport, should be completed within 10 years.

The choice of the Alcochete Shooting Range coincides with the recommendation of the final report of the Independent Technical Commission responsible for the strategic environmental assessment of the new airport.

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