Shopping centres and supermarkets attract €1.2Bn to retail real estate

Portugal’s commercial retail real estate sector attracted €1.2Bn of investment in 2024.

It represented half of all the investment ploughed into commercial real estate last year.

This was more than double the €585 million posted in 2023 and a maximum since 2020, according to data presented on Tuesday by real estate consultancy JLL in its report “The Iberian Retail Market – 2025: The Retail Revolution in Spain and Portugal”.

“This growth was mainly motivated by the shopping centre and supermarket segment”, it stated.

The dynamism of shopping malls and supermarkets was seen more in the second half of last year, but ended up making these assets the most sought after in 2024.

Shopping centres alone attracted €476 million (134% year-on-year). Investment in street commerce doubled to €99 million.

“The strong recovery of the Portuguese market was driven by the good performance of the economy, with positive effects on the activity of retailers, which, together with the price correction that the sector has seen in recent years, generated an attractive scenario of reduced risk and high profitability”, argue JLL’s consultants, who foresee that this movement will continue in the Portuguese market in 2025.

Portugal is seen as an opportunity for investors who already operate in Spain and/or who want to increase their exposure to the Iberian retail market.