The SIR-Urban Renewal, which analyzes 11 parishes in Lisbon, shows that between January 2016 and June 2017 foreigners who bought houses in these areas invested an average of €338,000, about 40% higher than the €244,000 invested per acquisition, on average, by the Portuguese in the same areas and in the same period of time.
Foreigners represent about 18% (1,300 acquisitions) out of the total of the 7,300 completed transactions of houses in these 18 months, which increases to 24% when the analysis is made in value. International investors generated around €446 million out of the total €1,900 million traded in housing in this market.
The demand is not the same for the different zones. The data of the Ci show that in the Alcântara-Ajuda-Belém axis the share of international investment in residential transactions is incipient, being around 10% of the amounts transacted. In the old town, especially in Santa Maria Maior, São Vicente and Misericórdia, foreign investors represent more than 30% of the investment.
The foreign buyers of this period analyzed concern 84 nationalities of the 5 continents. The director of CI, Ricardo Guimarães, explains that "the Chinese continue to be an essential part of the purchase of housing in Lisbon, as well as the French. What these latest data show is the emergence of other nationalities, highlighting the Brazilian and the Turkish, and this new reality brings a perspective of high security to the established dynamics, showing that the city can be resilient to eventual breaks in demand for one or other origin”. And he adds that "more than that, it confirms the consolidation of Lisbon as an international investment destination".