The Portuguese real estate sector is sounding the alarm ! The limitation of the allocation of golden visas only to those who buy real estate in the interior regions has already led to the cancellation of many promises to buy and sell or even acts of purchase of houses in large Portuguese cities. The Portuguese Socialist Party’s proposal and the Parliament’s decision resulted in the cancellation of the contracts that were to be signed this week. The Portuguese real estate sector indicates that the end of the golden visas in Lisbon and Porto is very bad news because Chinese and Brazilians have already canceled their project. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about this bad news for real estate in Lisbon and Porto.
End of Golden Visas : Chinese and Brazilians are already cancelling their real estate purchases in Portugal
Following rumors of the end of the golden visa, the vice-president of the Portuguese Association of Property Developers and Investors (APPII) said he received a "rain" of calls from abroad last week. And even more since this Wednesday when the Portuguese Parliament approved the limitation of these gold visas to stop the increase in housing prices in Lisbon and Porto.
"On the day of the announcement of the measure, many contracts to promise to buy and sell or certain acts were unsuccessful and were canceled due to uncertainty and now the confirmation of the measure by the 2020 state budget, "said Hugo Santos Ferreira worried.
"Many reports on contracts to be signed this week in Lisbon and Porto have been suspended or even canceled due to the parliament's decision," mainly from Chinese and Brazilian investors.
Hugo Santos Ferreira says that the very night the new measure was confirmed by MEPs, he received a call from an investor in Shanghai: "He was analyzing the acquisition of large assets in Lisbon for the middle class and also the benefits golden visas, and after all this news decided not to go any further. “
The representative of the Portuguese real estate sector guarantees that it is now impossible to try to attract foreigners with a lot of money inside Portugal, much less attractive, even with the golden visa.
"Let's go back to the problem: if you were a Portuguese investing in China or Brazil, you would hardly invest in a region in the lands you do not know, but rather in the main cities with expectations in terms of return on investment and of known profitability with moderate risk, "he said.
As a reminder in order to obtain a Golden Visa which allows entry to Portugal (and therefore to the European Union), it is necessary to invest 500,000 euros in the context of a property purchase. This measure, which has been in place for several years, has attracted many foreign investors to the Portuguese capital and to Porto.
Of the 8,125 golden visas granted between October 2012 and November 2019, more than half, 4,441, were issued to Chinese and 858 to Brazilians. They are, by far, the main nationalities to join Portugal through this special regime of residence authorization. These golden visas are in the crosshairs of the European Union because, according to it, they represent unfair competition and an open door to corruption and money laundering.
