Since 2010 that wasn´t sold so many houses in Portugal

The increase in home sales recorded last year is the confirmation of what has been the recovery of the housing sector in Portugal. Besides the greater confidence of consumers in the context of an economic recovery of the country, this increase in the number of sales transactions also results in better prospects in the housing loan market. In addition to the data associated with loans for home purchases being at historic lows and negative values, the banks give greater signs of openness to grant credit. This trend is visible especially in relieving the 'spreads' applied by banks in lending. Currently nine of the largest banks operating in Portugal already offer housing loans with 'spreads' from below 2%.

The data from the National Institute of Statistics also shows a recovery in terms of sales prices. The house price index shows that in the accumulated of the year, the house prices increased by about 3,1%. This value follows the 4,3% growth that had been registered in 2014, during which reversed the reduction in prices that had occurred in the previous three years.

In terms of the number of homes sold last year, the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the Algarve and the North showed the highest growth rates in the order of 36%, 33% and 32%, respectively. About the homes sold in 2015, one third were located in the metropolitan area of Lisbon. In this region were sold in 2015 a total of 35,317 properties: 31% more than in the previous year. "

by Catarina Melo
in economico.sapo.pt