With the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent economic fallout we are revising our already cautious annual outlook for resale property in the Algarve for 2020. With the lockdown of many countries around the world the global economy is expected to go into recession. For Europe a severe recession seems unavoidable. The lockdown of countries, the closing of schools and most businesses, the self-containment measures to stop the virus from spreading have brought normal day-to-day life to a standstill. As a result we expect a sharp drop in transaction volume of existing home sales and significant downside to property prices.

The...

Every year in December we reflect on the past year and provide an outlook for the property market in the year ahead, 2020. The past 12 months continued to see healthy demand for real estate for both permanent living and investment purposes albeit at a slower pace versus the year before. Less supply of existing properties in combination with relatively high prices, sharp downward revisions of economic growth early in the year and uncertainty regarding trade wars and Brexit are the culprits. Despite this property prices continued their upward trajectory by increasing 3% year-on-year, which was in line with the lower end of our expectations. There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic for the upcoming year.

Every year in December we reflect on the past year and provide an outlook for the property market in the year ahead, 2019. The past 12 months have been very exciting as real estate continued to be popular for both permanent living and investment purposes. The total number of visitors to the Algarve decreased a bit year-on-year, but this was to be expected after two consecutive years of record breaking numbers. Strong demand for both residential and investment property saw prices of existing properties rise by 9.5% which is just above the top end of our expectation of 9% made in December 2017.

In the current buoyant property market, there is logic in taking a step back and reassessing your investment goals in light of potential risks, especially as some areas are becoming priced for perfection.

If you bought an investment property or are considering to down size you may want to consider selling into a strong market. Can property prices go higher? Yes, but nobody ever lost money taking a profit. When new price...

On average a person moves house 8 times during their life time mainly due to changes in lifestyle. Some want to be closer to amenities and/or family and friends, while young families may have outgrown their home and need a larger property as their family grows in size. When the children have grown up and left, a family home that was perfect before can become a burden due to high running cost and maintenance. As one is getting older the work in the garden especially can become too much. Downsizing or rightsizing is the next step and when living on a countryside location this often goes hand in hand with relocating...