According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), after the “significant” increases both in number and value in previous years (14.5 percent and 19.2 percent in number and 22.2 percent and 22.6 percent in value, respectively in 2018 and 2017), in 2019 the number of properties acquired by non-residents decreased by 2 percent, having increased by 1 percent in value.

The average value of properties sold to non-residents was €176,429 (up by 3.1 percent on 2018).

“This figure is 57 percent higher than the average value of total transactions, a difference similar to that in 2018”, said the INE.

As in the previous year, it was French residents who acquired the most properties in Portugal (18.1 percent of the total value of the properties acquired by non-residents), followed by UK residents (17.3 percent).

Among the main countries of residence of non-resident buyers, INE highlights China, whose average value of real estate acquired by residents of this country (€373,071) was more than double the total average value of real estate sold to residents abroad.

The Algarve overtook the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, accounting for 37.7 percent of the value of acquisitions by non-residents (35.8 percent in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area).

The information disclosed by INE on property acquisitions by non-resident buyers in Portugal is based exclusively on administrative sources, namely from registries and notaries, and collected by the Directorate-General for Justice Policy of the Ministry of Justice.

According to INE data, in 2019, the number of properties traded in Portugal decreased by 4.7 percent, while the average value of properties traded in 2019 increased by 4.1 percent.