Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is currently a developed country with a Human Development Index (HDI) considered high. The country is ranked in 19th place in quality of life, it has one of the best public health systems and is also one of the most peaceful nations in the world. Another important point to consider is safety. According to the Global Peace Index (IGP), prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace based in Sydney, Portugal is currently considered the 11th safest country in the world.

The Portuguese culture dates back to prehistoric times and was heavily influenced by a variety of people and customs over the years. The ages of the Roman and Arab invasions, as well as the societies that preceded it, have left their traces and a diverse cultural and archaeological legacy visible throughout the Portuguese territory.

Lisbon is Portugal's capital and largest city, with about 550,000 inhabitants (2,050,000 in the Greater Lisbon area). Near Lisbon we can visit two of the most important sights of the country, Cascais and Sintra which hosts magnificent beaches with their forests and monumental castles.

In the North, Porto is the second largest city with approximately 238,000 inhabitants (1,290,000 in the Greater Porto area) and world-famous by the renowned Port wine and the panoramic views of the Douro region. In addition, further to the south of Portugal and with a beautiful coast with cliffs and golden beaches is the city of Algarve.

REAL ESTATE MARKET

In 2003, high levels of liquidity encouraged an unprecedented demand by both Portuguese and foreign investors, an increase by around 150% in the volume of investment. This growth was maintained until 2007 where he achieved the record of investments in real estate.

In 2008, a great pessimism in the face of crisis coupled with the shortage of financing for real estate, the investment market was directly affected, recording a fall of over 60% over the previous year.

In 2012 the volume of investment in real estate assets was the lowest of the last 12 years, only 108 million euros, a decrease compared to 2011 of 36%.

The latest data from the real estate investment market in Portugal confirm the recovery started in the second half of 2014, investment volumes involving operations closed during the first five months of 2015 in Portugal were higher than the volume of total trade over the twelve months 2014.

Historically and with the exception of the years of crisis, most real estate investments and especially in the commercial sector in Portugal is carried out by large international funds, but never to the extent that is currently observed. In 2015, 84% of transactions were carried out by foreign as China, USA, Spain and Brazil.

In 2015, it was reached a record volume of real estate investment in the country, with a total of 1.8 billion euros, 40% above the previous record achieved in 2007. If the retail most of the investment had foreign origin 87 %, in the offices was more balanced, with the Portuguese representing 32% of the total. Maintaining its strong presence, foreign investment funds accounted for the largest share of investment, with 65% of the total volume.

Noteworthy is the growing demand for hotels like investment product, a situation historically unrepresentative in this market. During 2015 we were transacted 8 hotels whose total volume amounted to 240 million Euros.

RESIDENTIAL

The residential market followed the positive trend that had been experiencing since 2013. The government incentive programs, the new availability of credit offered by banks and increased consumer confidence contributed to the resumption of the search for residential properties.

An important factor to be addressed would be a record low EURIBOR which resulted in interest rates to housing credit far below what was practiced in the years of crisis. In 2008 the interest rate on the loan for the purchase was 5.76% per year, the highest in the last 10 years, and in September 2015 the same type of loan was being done to 2.23% per annum (value lower since March 2010). Given this record low, we had to September 2015 an increase of 70% in the granting of such credit when compared to the same period last year (2.76 billion euros), a result considered the highest since 2012.

In July 2015, Portugal Banks already had almost borrowed double the amount borrowed in the same period last year, this level of investment represented the highest figure since 2011, but still far from the 2007 figures, when such values eached 1 7 billion euros in one month, with spreads between 0.25% and 0.50%.

Between 2013 and 2015, the average monthly amount of credit to purchase homes increased from 170 million euros to 334 million euros. Still, these figures represent only a third of the amount that was borrowed to acquire housing by financial institutions before the crisis.

The expectation is that this trend continues upward. The Bank of Portugal announced that the 2nd quarter of 2016, some banks will impose fewer restrictions on housing lending and increase the number of loans.