In year-on-year terms, this data translates into a 19 percent drop in the number of properties sold to foreigners and an 18 percent reduction in the total value of transactions.

The numbers have been released by Confidencial Imobiliário which, in a statement, also adds that there were 58 nationalities of investors who purchased houses or residential buildings in Lisbon, with emphasis on the French and North Americans who generated “each 10 percent of the number of properties acquired by internationals”. Next are the British, “with a share of 6 percent, Chinese, with 5 percent, Brazilians and Italians (shares of 3 percent each)”.

Data from Confidencial Imobiliário takes into account properties located in the Lisbon Urban Rehabilitation Area (ARU), which covers all parishes in the city with the exception of Santa Clara, Lumiar and Parque das Nações, and is based on the analysis of the elements of property rights preference reported by Lisbon City Council.

Among the various areas of the capital, interest from foreigners has grown in parishes outside the historic centre, such as the areas of Benfica, Campolide, Alcântara, Areeiro and Alvalade, where the number of sales grew by over 50%, surpassing Santa Maria Maior, Misericórdia and Santo António, with around 80 operations each (shares of 10% of total sales).

But the drop in the sale of houses in Lisbon by foreigners is also accompanied by a reduction in Portuguese investment. According to the Confidencial Imobiliário report, in the first half of the year, 1,630 residential properties were purchased by the Portuguese, totalling 673.1 million in turnover, translating year-on-year declines of 22% and 13%, respectively.