Hot property in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital!
Arthur takes a brief look at why Lisbon is becoming increasingly popular as a destination for property investment…
Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, is a beautiful, vibrant and historic city. It’s seven picturesque hillsides comes together to form a midst of narrow alleyways, cobbled streets, wide open squares and amazing viewpoints overlooking the river Tejo estuary. Following a deep recession, the city is now booming in property sales, construction, start-ups and tourism. As capital cities go, Lisbon is relatively small meaning it’s very easy to navigate on foot. However, it’s size in no way detracts from the vast and eclectic array of eateries, restaurants, bars and nightlife on offer. Lonely Planet even has Lisbon as no.8 in it’s Top 10 Best Cities to travel to in 2017!
One of the best things about Lisbon is that it’s still cheap in comparison with a lot of other European cities. Living costs are significantly lower than London. That being said, house prices all over Portugal have been recovering since 2014. House prices in central areas of the capital rose, on average, by a staggering to 22pc last year.
The suburbs of Estoril and Cascais, where homes are of the slightly more modern variety, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Avenida Liberdade and the Chiado neighbourhoods have lately become hotspots for luxury renovations of 18th century buildings, now selling for high-prices. The buyer profile is also changing, as the housing market continues to lend itself to more overseas investors due to relatively low transaction costs: local agents report that the majority of overseas investors are coming from Western Europe, in particular France, Sweeden and Switzerland. The Portuguese government are, however, looking to increase taxes on high value property this year.
As Lisbon’s housing stocks become increasingly more scarce under heightening demand, Arthur would suggest researching into the new, upcoming ‘outskirt’ areas of the city to avoid the soaring prices, as well as ACTING FAST. So what are you waiting for?! Pack your bags, and spend a weekend away in this revitalised European capital!
