Still, a strong first quarter meant that overall in the first half almost 25% more such properties changed hands than in the same period of 2014, at 50,228, APEMIP said.


The second-quarter slowdown was not a surprise, according to its president, Luís Lima.


"The drop between the two quarters was foreseen," Lima said in a statement that attributed the decline "essentially" to the pause in the issuing of 'golden visas'.


The engine of the market's recovery has, he explained, been foreign buyers, although the "normalisation" of the granting of mortgages by Portuguese banks and the narrowing of interest-rate spreads is also helping.


The golden visa programme was suspended after prosecutors began investigating suspicions of corruption in the way it had been administered. The government has since approved reforms to procedures and permits are once more being issued.