Luis Horta e Costa, Other Experts, Discuss Portugal’s 2023 Real Estate Trends
Portugal, one of Europe’s sunniest, friendliest, and least expensive countries, continued to lure real estate buyers in 2022 – sometimes breaking records for real estate transactions. According to Idealista, a leading Spanish real estate website, growth will invigorate 2023’s market despite Europe’s worrying political and financial situations.
Based on Idealista’s reporting about 2022 real estate activity, Lisbon was the most popular choice among property buyers, followed by Loulé, Albufeira, Cascais, and Porto. In 2022, Price Waterhouse Cooper Lisbon placed Lisbon 16th on the list of most attractive cities for real estate investments.
Luis Horta e Costa, a longtime player in real estate investment, likes unwinding with his family in seaside towns like Cascais and Melides. But when he founded a real estate property developer and asset manager, Square View, he based it in the bustling metropolis of Lisbon.
“I love Lisbon because there are a lot of beautiful places to visit in the city,” Horta e Costa says.
Unassuming, seaside towns aren’t the only settlements that intrigue Horta e Costa. He also enjoys touring historic towns and farming-oriented villages in the country’s interior. He appreciates the vastness of the Alentejo, Portugal’s breadbasket, where fragrant forests, delicate wildflowers, and ancient cork trees surround remote farmhouses.
“I love Évora; it’s a beautiful town full of history,” he says. “But Alentejo’s interior is surprising with beautiful places to visit.”
Portugal readily reveals why people want to be among its property owners, whether in cosmopolitan cities or sparsely populated villages. The country boasts a mild climate, low living costs, excellent cuisine, low crime, and pristine beaches.
Portugal also offers a high quality of life via infrastructure such as free healthcare, public transportation, and a high level of political stability. And unspoiled nature abounds, from verdant mountains to bird sanctuaries.
The profitability of Portuguese real estate is music to the ears of Horta e Costa and his partners at Square View. Horta e Costa has produced more than 250,000 square meters of real estate projects in his career. At Square View, he focuses on investor relations and new investment opportunities.
Luis Horta e Costa, Others, Discuss Portugal’s Consistent Real Estate Growth
Portugal remains an alluring vacation and investment destination. Juan-Galo Macià, president of Engel & Völkers Spain, Portugal, and Andorra, said the reasons behind his business’s record sales and transactions amount to “strong demand from international customers.”
According to Idealista, 2023 will unveil new real estate opportunities. Pundits predict growth areas will include logistics, office space, affordable housing, and student residences.
During the pandemic, online shopping and the demand for delivery services drove growth in the warehouse and logistics space, and the expansion continued in 2021. According to a 2021 report by Cinco Dias, the North American bank Goldman Sachs Asset Management has announced that it will invest one billion euros over three years in building warehouses in Portugal and Spain.
Portugal anticipates continued demand in the residential space. Some buyers, priced out of the larger cities like Porto and Lisbon, seek to purchase beyond the big cities.
Guida Sousa, the national coordinating director for Decisões e Soluções (Decisions and Solutions), a Portuguese real estate consultancy, told Idealista that demand for properties in urban centers has been constant.
“However, middle-class families are looking more in the peripheral areas of the cities of Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra,” Sousa told Idealista, pointing to “the evident growing demand for the interior areas of the country.”
Luis Horta e Costa and Others Adore Cascais
The hilly seaside town, Cascais, a short drive from Lisbon, is a respite graced with ocean breezes and mountain views. It was a traditional fishing village until the 20th century when fishing lures made way for the allure of expensive perfume as European nobility discovered Cascais’ summertime charms.
Cascais ranked fourth among Portuguese cities most popular with foreigners buying real estate. Americans are its biggest fans, followed by Brazilian, British, German, and Spanish buyers.
Luis Horta e Costa has visited Cascais many times. He took note when Vanguard Properties, the largest real estate developer in Portugal, broke ground on Terras da Comporta, a development in a secluded coastal setting that abuts the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve. Terras da Comport includes two properties: Torre, comprising 365 hectares in the Alcácer do Sal municipality, and Dunas, which occupies 1,011 hectares in the Grândola municipality.
Horta e Costa is also developing a luxury community called AZO in Cascais. AZO’s architecture is a contemporary interpretation of a historic Cascais villa. Large windows and spacious verandas frame breathtaking views of the Bay of Cascais.
“We always try to have good views,” Horta e Costa says. “Light is essential for us. We avoid concrete and always try to include wood.”
AZO offers 18 apartments designed in 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom layouts with spacious, light-filled rooms.
Horta e Costa says it’s no secret why throngs of newcomers want a piece of Portugal. “Portugal is attractive because of the people, cost of living, safety, and weather. And I think the quality of the services is increasing a lot.”
