US buyers drive growth in luxury property as Sotheby’s deals up 23%
Nationals of the US, UK, Germany and France were among those who bought the most homes in 2022, the estate agent Sotheby's said.
Luxury residential estate agents Portugal Sotheby’s Realty last year handled €377 million in property deals in 2022, up 23% from 2021, with a total of 714 transactions in the year, the company said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Most of the buyers were foreign nationals, who accounted for 52% of the total value of sales through Portugal Sotheby’s Realty in the year, although the company stressed that locals “continue to have an important weight” in its business.
Nationals of the US, UK, Germany and France were among those who bought the most homes in 2022, the estate agent said.
US nationals accounted for 24% of sales by value and “were the customers who bought more luxury real estate in the Lisbon region” as well as being in the top five nationalities nationwide – despite not being ranked at all five years ago.
The most requested areas in 2022 were “the city of Lisbon, the Linha area [the rail line to Cascais] but also the Algarve, the island of Madeira and Porto,” with an average transaction price of €1 million.
“The results we achieved prove that Portugal continues to assert itself as an excellent investment and also that the luxury market is strong and in good health despite the context of uncertainty linked to the war in Ukraine, high inflation and rising interest rates,” the document quoted the CEO of Portugal Sotheby’s Realty, Miguel Poisson, as saying.
For this year, he foresees “double-digit” growth in total transaction value and the hiring of up to 50 new employees, with the company expecting this year to have five new sales teams.
“For all the characteristics that we already know and also for the current social and economic context, Portugal is becoming increasingly attractive to Americans,” adds Poisson in a statement that mentions that incomers “expect to find security, hospitality and good infrastructure and access to good schools and good health care” in Portugal.
As factors in its own growth, the company highlights “internal factors” such as “greater investment in marketing, strong investment in technology and also the new commissioning model.”
