Portugal remains a safe haven for long term investments thanks to strict planning and banking regulations, according to a recent report from the overseas property and travel website www.homesworldwide.co.uk
While other European countries are feeling the effects of the global economic downturn, Portugal appears to be bucking the trend as a separate report from news portal www.easier.com also confirms.
Paul Collins, the property editor of www.buyassociation.co.uk, said: “Portugal remains one of the most popular destinations for the UK overseas property buyers and with good reason. It is easy to get to, has established legal and financial frameworks for buyers and has suffered none of the corruption and overdevelopment that has blighted the property market in Spain.”
Research carried out by British brokerage company International Private Finance (IPF) revealed that Portuguese mortgage lenders maintained their levels of mortgage lending and product availability during 2009.
Favourite destination
Initial fears that British buyers would be pulling out of the market or looking to other destinations to invest in have been quashed by the IPF report which highlights that lenders expect to see a recovery in the Sterling-Euro exchange rate in the near future. The IPF survey of 20 of Europe’s most active mortgage providers concluded that the key findings for Portugal were particularly positive, especially in comparison to other European countries that are also a favourite with British people including France and Spain.
As interest rates hit record lows, investors are looking to new ways to increase the value of their savings and buying property in the Algarve is proving to be a popular alternative.
Overseas travel and property manager Dawn Williams of Jones Homes Portugal (www.joneshomesportugal.com) said: “We have had a number of enquiries just recently from people who have seen their savings take a hit so we have been introducing them to the idea of investing in our developments located in the western Algarve.
“We believe that our properties continue to offer good value for money and investment potential because Portugal´s property market has remained fairly stable and robust, avoiding the boom and bust cycle experienced in neighbouring Spain.”
Although price increases of properties in the region have eased lately, steady and sustainable growth over the years has seen property more than double over the past five years despite the financial crisis proving that investment in the region can still be considered with confidence by buyers from the UK.
