The government in Lisbon is struggling to get the EU to acknowledge how much the economy has improved. Yet, two significant transactions in recent weeks highlight how real estate in Portugal – the P in the Global Financial-Crisis-ravaged 'PIIGS' countries on Europe’s periphery – is on the road to recovery.
CBRE revealed in mid-March that it advised Portuguese insurer Tranquilidade on the sale of 86 properties in what is believed to be one of the country's largest transactions in terms of the number of assets traded.
The property adviser did not reveal the investment volume, but Portuguese media sources reported the portfolio, focused primarily in Lisbon and Porto, traded for €140 mln. The buyer was an institutional investor consortium that intends to refurbish and manage the office, residential, retail and tourism assets.
Around the same time, London-based asset manager Signal Capital acquired the 48,000 m2 Entreposto Building – one of the largest office assets in Lisbon – for €65 mln. C&W acted for the vendor and JLL represented the buyers.
'The Portuguese investment market has grown in size, number of investors and appealing opportunities. We believe this is a sustainable trend that will continue in the forthcoming years with an increasing number of active international and local investors, thus creating a more liquid and interesting market,' said Fernando Ferreira, head of JLL’s local investment team.
The property advisers said this was one of the largest single-asset investment transactions in Portugal this year. It lifts the spend on Portuguese offices since 1 January to €100 mln. C&W has forecast that all-property volumes for the first half of 2017 could reach €800 mln, the third-best performance ever. While foreign investors are driving the market, domestic capital accounts for 30% of activity.
