Investors choose Lisbon as the most attractive city

In the real estate sector, all eyes are on Lisbon. The Portuguese capital is leading the ranking of investment preferences and real estate development in Europe for the first time, presented in the annual survey of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) with trends for 2019.

"Lisbon is the choice of the year, with a rise of 10 places," says the consultant in the work "Emerging Trends in the Real Estate Market." "And the city comes to the top of this general ranking on the prospects for 2019 with two first places, in the preferences of investors and in the preferences of real estate developers," says Jorge Figueiredo, a partner at PwC.

"In fact, I already felt that the demand in Lisbon was increasing. Now, it is clear that the city can be the first choice, "says Jorge Figueiredo, who got used to seeing the Portuguese capital in the last places of this European table at the beginning of the decade, but noted the approach to the top 10 at the end of the assistance program financial management.

Now called to score the interest in the Portuguese capital with scores from 0 to 5, respondents pointed to "good" averages, from 4.27 points in the perspective of investors and slightly below, at 4.19 points, from the perspective of the promoters, enough for the city to beat the more direct competitors, from Berlin to Dublin or Madrid.

Another angle of analysis, more focused on the return on investment, also leaves Lisbon well positioned, second overall, just behind Berlin, showing that the market may be small but "very interesting." Thus, from the perspective of rising investment income, the capital receives an average of 3.98 points, while Berlin reaches 4.1. Already in the perspective of capitalization, Lisbon tilts the German capital, with 3.84 points against 3.83.

What attracts investors and real estate developers to Lisbon is also identified. Respondents refer, first and foremost, to "quality of life". The city also appears as an interesting opportunity in an "end-of-cycle" phase of real estate growth in Europe, in an economy with "a healthy level" of growth, in a country that has become a destination for companies, investors and tourists.

"Now everyone talks about Lisbon," says one investor quoted in PwC's work. Seeing Lisbon, a small market, leading the way in Europe may be a surprise, but the city offers "good returns" and the CEO of an Iberian company expects a 10% increase in the yield of its portfolio in the Portuguese capital.