Commercial property investment in 2022 seen at high of €3.6B
In the first four months of this year, investment was up 13% on the same period a year earlier, with offices account for the largest share, with a weight of 56%.
This year, investment in commercial property in Portugal – that is, in offices, retail, industry and hospitality – may reach an all-time record f €3.6 billion for the country, according to research by property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.
Speaking to Lusa, Andreia Almeida, who heads the consultancy’s research department, noted that so far “the historical maximum was in 2019, with €3.2 billion” and that the total “corresponds to transactions in different stages of negotiation” – including €250 million completed by April, to which may add “off-market” deals, that is, of which the market is not yet aware.
In the first four months of this year, she said, investment was up 13% on the same period a year earlier, with offices account for the largest share, with a weight of 56%, followed by hotels, with 17%, and industry, with 14%.
The outlook for the business depends on the segment, according to Almeida: in the case of offices, “there is an indication that there really is a recovery of activity in this segment that began last year and is basically confirmed by the figures that we have until April in this case.”
In retail, behaviour varies according to the segment, with “a clear interest in the food sector” and a “very interesting percentage of openings in shopping centres.”
Questioned about the lack of supply in this sector, Almeida indicated that “it was something that was already being talked about a lot, a scarcity of quality supply” and that “in times of crisis, many owners end up having a cautious attitude and only move forward with construction if they have a guaranteed lease” but that now “speculative construction has started to increase and there is an increasing response to this shortage.”
In addition, she said, there is “a widespread increase in rents and … in the coming months there is still room for a correction.”
On the other hand, she said, last year saw an increase in the volume accounted for by Portuguese investors – in part because of the impact on travel restrictions on foreign ones – but “much of this investment considered to be national is from entities that manage portfolios of capital of international origin.”
Between January and April this year, the weight of foreign investment reached 72%, she explained.
