In the first half of this year, Cushman & Wakefield reported for 749 million euros in Portuguese commercial property, 499 million of which were transacted in the second quarter.
According to the Marketbeat Snapshots now published and released by the consultancy, this is a recovery of 18% compared to the same period last year. Of particular note was the transaction of six hotels from the Dom Pedro group, which accounted for around 50 per cent of the volume transacted in that quarter.
In the first half of the year, absorption in the industrial and logistics market is noteworthy, up 54% on the same period in 2022, with a total of 17 new occupation deals and 111,980 square metres placed, with activity concentrated mainly in Greater Porto, with 73,170 square metres occupied.
In retail, the high street continues to dominate the market, accounting for 61% of all new openings. Shopping centres account for 20% and stand alone units 15%. Over the next three years, 93,500 new square metres of gross lettable area should enter the market, including Nova Vila Retail Park, City Covilhã and Salinas Park (to open later this year), as well as the refurbishment and expansion of Colombo to be completed in 2025.
As for the Lisbon office market, 72 deals were registered and 38,320 square metres occupied up to June, a year-on-year drop of 77%. In Porto, the market absorbed 25,180 square metres with 32 deals, 17% less than last year.
Putting this global performance into context, this report recalls that real estate investment continues to be impacted by "some global uncertainty", and is expected to fall by 1% in 2023, growing by 4.9% in 2024.
According to Moody's Analytics, Portugal's GDP is expected to slow down to 2.5% in 2023, after rising 6.7% last year, although it remains one of the most significant in the eurozone. Inflation is expected to be more moderate, rising to 4.3% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024.
