LISBON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Foreign investment in housing in the Urban Rehabilitation Area (ARU) in Lisbon skyrocketed to 676 million euros in 2018, accounting for 28 percent of the total of 2.39 billion euros invested, according to a Portuguese real estate company, quoted by Portuguese Lusa News Agency on Wednesday.
"In 2018, foreigners acquired 1,592 residential properties in the ARU of Lisbon, for a total investment of 675.6 million euros," according to the data released by Confidencial Imobiliario, which relate to the acquisition of residential properties by private individuals and reflect "an increase of 80 percent in volume (375 million euros in 2017) and 67 percent in number of real estate (955 real estate in 2017). "
The dynamic of the residential market resulted in an increase in the share of foreign investment, from 21 percent in 2017, compared to a volume of 1.79 billion euros, to "28 percent of the total 2.39 billion euros invested in housing in the ARU of Lisbon in 2018 ".
According to Confidencial Imobiliario, foreign buyers invested "an average of 424,500 euros per operation" during 2018, which corresponds to an increase of 8 percent compared to the 393,500 euros invested in 2017, as well as to "about 38 percent more than domestic buyers invested in the same period (306,700 euros)."
Portugal's housing prices continue to rise strongly, fuelled by surging demand as well as improved economic conditions. Property prices in Portugal rose by 6.09 percent year-on-year in 2018, a website of GlobalPropertyguide reported in February this year. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars)
