Prices of commercial properties increased 1.7% in 2020
For the second year in a row, a reduction in the rate of growth of commercial property prices was observed.
While house prices increased by 8.4%, those for commercial property saw a far more modest appreciation of just 1.7%, according to data from Statistics Portugal (INE). The increase was only slightly less than that recorded in 2019.
“In 2020, the Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) increased 1.7%, 0.2 percentage points (pp) less than in 2019,” INE says. “For the second consecutive year, there was a reduction in the growth rate of commercial property prices, reflected in increases of 4.9%, 1.9%, and 1.7%, respectively, in 2018, 2019 and 2020,” it adds.
This further slowdown in price growth came in a year marked by the pandemic, which forced a nationwide lockdown, followed by restrictive measures to curb the virus. Already this year, the growth in the number of Covid-19 cases has forced the country to shut down again until March.
The prices of these commercial properties, which range from shops to offices, but also warehouses, have been held back, resulting in a much lower increase than for residential properties.
“The housing market, whose price evolution is presented by the House Price Index (HPI), once again evidenced in 2020, as it has happened since 2016, a price growth above that registered in commercial properties,” says INE.
“Last year, the HPI annual rate of change was 8.4%, 6.7 pp above that recorded by the CPPI. Compared to 2019, the difference between the growth rates of the two indicators was reduced in 1.0 pp,” it adds.
