If You've Got the Cash Start Looking at Portuguese Real Estate As A Serious Investment
Whilst walking around Albufeira last week I noticed a real estate agent specialising only in "bank repossessed properties". I suppose it's a sign of the times that a real estate agent can make a living purely from the misfortune of property owners who failed to make repayments on their mortgages.With so many surplus properties entering the Algarve property market from banks and other lenders, it is no surprise that prices in the Algarve have fallen to an all time low.
Although low property prices are an incentive to investors, the fact remains that it is nearly impossible to get a repayment mortgage from either a Portuguese or international bank today, without paying a hefty deposit and highly inflated monthly payments. In order to take advantage of these low prices, buyers need portable wealth, so it is the cash buyers who are snapping up the best properties for sale at the cheaper end of the Algarve property market.
But it isn't only low cost properties that are changing hands.
There is more than a little truth behind the reports of Russian, Chinese and Angolan investors arriving in Portugal with large bags of cash in search of property investment opportunities. The Portuguese government is actively promoting investment in Portugal with their "Visto Dourado" iniciative that offers automatic residency to those who invest €500,000 or more in Portuguese real estate.
Newly implemented tax breaks for French buyers have resulted in an additional surge in interest in the Portuguese luxury real estate sector, with French speaking estate agents in Portugal being the first to benefit. So it is really no surprise that the luxury property market in the Algarve is also beginning to move once more.
The old adage: "if you have money, you can make money" has never rung truer than it does in today's Portuguese real estate sector. If you have the cash, now is the moment to consider investing, as there have never been so many opportunities at both the top and the bottom ends of the market.
Estate Agent specialising in property for Sale in the Algarve region of Portugal: http://www.sevenquintas.com/
Property Management Company in Portugal: http://www.nortonmackenzie.com/
