August expected to see double the usual number of ‘escrituras’
Bookings for ‘escrituras’ (deeds) have surged in response to the government’s new law exempting under-35s from house purchase tax (IMT) and Stamp Duty coming into effect.
According to property sales agents, everything started happening the minute President Marcelo promulgated the diploma.
Said one, cited by Lusa: “I had processes that weren’t approved because they were awaiting documentation. Suddenly, in 48 hours, everything started arriving”.
Ana Paula Silva of Century 21 anticipates her workload in terms of escrituras “will double (in August) compared to the same month last year”, says Lusa.
Her view coincides with information gathered by real estate market intelligence unit Confidencial Imobiliário. Director Ricardo Guimarães said data from the Residential Information System (SIR), which tracks demand for property through the number of promissory purchase and sale contracts (CPCV), points to an increase in the first few months of this year.
However, this rise in CPCVs was not reflected in the number of deeds signed, which confirms the information gathered through the Housing Market Survey, where estate agents report that younger buyers have been putting off signing deeds until the new law comes into effect.
Guimarães believes “there will be an acceleration in deeds” from now on, not only because of the effect of this tax benefit but also because the interest rate landscape for those who want to apply for loans is currently more favourable than it was a year ago.
A speeding up of deeds is also what president of the Order of Notaries Jorge Batista da Silva is hoping for after what became a waiting period, with buyers requesting postponements to take advantage of the benefits which they knew were coming down the line.
Jorge Batista da Silva doesn’t anticipate any problems with booking and carrying out deeds (despite the expected increase in the coming months) but says that there are still some doubts about the measures aimed at young people.
Lusa contacted several banks operating in the Portuguese market to find out if they saw an increase in bookings from August onwards. Still, so far only BPI has reported no significant increase.
Some ‘answers’ to doubts about the measures:
Minister for Youth and Modernisation, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, took to social media yesterday to answer some of the questions swirling: the new law was published in Diário da República yesterday (Thursday) and will come into effect on August 1.
The exemptions cover homes whose taxable value (VPT) does not exceed €316,772.
If the purchase of this first home is made using a loan (which requires registration of the corresponding mortgage), the saving amounts to €450. If there is no need for a mortgage, the amount young buyers will no longer have to pay for registration will be €225.
The exemption, as detailed in the draft diploma, covers the registration of “the first acquisition” for consideration of property intended exclusively for own and permanent habitation “whose taxable value does not exceed €316,772 in favor of taxpayers who are 35 years old or younger at the time of the transfer”.
Once these conditions have been met, there is also an exemption from fees for registering the mortgage.
Source material: LUSA/ SIC Notícias
