Property prices increased 11% in the Eastern Algarve in 2018 says report
There was a notable increase in market confidence in 2018 in the Eastern Algarve property market with average sales up by around 11% (€3,100/m2) on 2017 (€2,250).
This was a key finding of the ILM Eastern Algarve Residential Real Estate Market Survey Report summer 2018 which was released by ILM Real Estate this week.
ILM, headed by Andrew Coutts, collaborated with 12 leading Eastern Algarve real estate agencies in undertaking the survey including Fine & Country, Pro Luna Real Estate, Land & Houses Algarve, Algarve Property Shops, Algarve Manta, Fastighetsbyran, Manor Properties, Casas do Sotavento, ERJ Properties, Ideal Homes International, Portugal Property.com and O Pomar.
The study found that 75% of sales transactions were in the €100k-€500k range (€100K-€250K representing 39% and €250K-€500k: 36%.
There were only 9% enquiries in the 500k range but closings in this range were high at 18%.
Apartments consisted of nearly half (45%) of demand while in terms of location, the coast to N125 represents 73% of demand.
When it came to buyers preferences and motives to buy, design, build quality and quality of environment were more important tipping points to buyers than convenience, facilities or investment returns.
UK buyers were still by far the biggest nationality group in all price brackets in pre-Brexit 2018 although there was strong demand from the French and Swedish and emerging demand from Ireland.
The Non-Habitual Resident tax incentive is a visible driver in the Eastern Algarve but not a major sub-sector driver according to the report and there was negligible golden visa demand.