Real estate has once again become the main investment destination for the Portuguese in 2022. Banco de Portugal (BdP) accounts reveal that this year families concentrated 498 billion euros in real estate assets (namely in housing). This makes it the first time in 13 years that real estate assets weighed more heavily on family wealth than financial assets.

According to a report by idealista, with regard to private wealth, a trend has been observed over the last seven years: the value of real estate assets has grown at a faster rate than the capital invested in financial assets (such as deposits). And there is a simple explanation: the transfer of wealth to housing was driven by the low-interest rates observed until July 2022, along with high house prices.

It turns out that the amount invested by families in real estate assets rose so much that in 2022 it surpassed financial assets for the first time in 13 years. According to the BdP, families owned 498 billion euros in real estate last year, compared to 480 billion euros invested in financial assets. The appreciation of real estate assets compared to 2010 is 35%, above the 30% that increased the value of financial assets.

This was also the highest value ever recorded by the BdP in private real estate assets, having grown by 10% compared to 2021.