The office market concentrates the largest share of real estate investment in Portugal, a trend that should continue in the near future. But other segments, such as the residential and logistics market, are beginning to gain ground, maintaining the growth trend registered from January to October, according to Savills' analysis.
Alberto Henriques, Capital Markets Associate Director of Savills Portugal, highlighted in a statement that «even after the adoption of remote work as a complementary solution to the traditional work model, the office is seen as a fundamental space for the proper functioning of organizations and will be increasingly aimed at promoting the well-being of its users», he foresees.
At European level, the offices also lead, and should represent, between January and October, an investment volume of 60,000 million euros, 32% of the total investment made in Europe.
Savills sees in office leasing «a new impetus, largely fueled by a greater demand for new spaces, the result of the return to offices and the new demands placed on traditional work spaces, in order to accommodate the expectations of employees that they were teleworking for months and the requirements that investors increasingly consider to be priorities, such as the energy sustainability of the facilities and the size of the offices as spaces for promoting creativity and social development». However, as these new requirements begin to gain strength, «there may be a corresponding increase in the rent values for office spaces that are in line with the new criteria of demand in the context of the immediate post-pandemic».
However, according to the consultant, «the numbers suggest that the office segment may be losing ground to other product categories, such as residential solutions and properties dedicated to the logistics area. The Living & Care segment (which encompasses residential properties and residential solutions for seniors) is estimated to have represented 29% of the total European property market at the end of the third quarter. The Logistics sector, in the same period, will have conquered a share of 20% of the total of this market».
Savills predicts that, through the end of this year and throughout the next, the property market will continue to attract strong interest from investors: «The property market will continue to be able to attract strong interest from investors. The strengthening of the market should be driven by the intensification of cross-border investment mobility, as a result of the lifting of restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening of borders and the resumption of tourist activity. This progressive return to a sense of normality should electrify real estate demand in Europe, resulting in an increase in the number of transactions and the volume of investment».
By the end of the year, Europe should attract an investment volume of 270 billion euros, 15% more than in 2019. If this scenario is confirmed, it will be the 4th largest annual investment volume in the last 6 years.
