Portuguese property recovery spreads to porto

Property prices are now rising in Porto for the first time in four years Photo: Francisco

The Portuguese property recovery has spread to Porto, according to the new report from the RICS/Ci for February 2015.

The results show that property prices grew for the second month in a row, albeit modestly, with improving market fundamentals driving confidence higher.

Porto, significantly, experienced a slight pick-up for the first time in the survey’s four year history. On the back of this, three month price expectations strengthened once more and now sit comfortably in positive territory.

Growth in new buyer enquiries also accelerated for the second consecutive month, extending an uninterrupted positive run dating back to August 2013. At the same time, agreed sales increased at the fastest pace on record and have now been rising continuously for an entire year.

The consistent improvement in activity is supporting the gentle recovery in prices.

As well as Porto, the recovery is extending to the lettings sector too, with rent expectations now positive for the first time since the series was formed back in 2011.

As a result of the firmer market trend, the national confidence index has reached a fresh record high (+36, following January’s already robust reading of
+32).

RICS Senior Economist, Josh Miller says: "The latest results suggest that market activity is beginning to shift up a gear, with growth in both enquiries and sales accelerating. Prices are starting to recover on the back of this, but a sustained improvement in the economy will be needed to reinforce this going forward."